Part 2

Wood mice almost certainly do not occur in the Gobi Desert. They are known as far west as the Altai Mountains to the north of the Gobi and at least as far west as Kansu (see below) to the south of it. Whether the geographic range of the species skirts the western edge of the arid regions of northern China is at present unknown; perhaps it does not. At any rate, mice available to me from the North Chinese provinces of Jehol, Shansi, Shensi and Kansu are notably different in certain external and cranial features from other known races of Apodemus peninsulae and are here given subspecific recognition. All measurements are in millimeters. Capitalized color terms are from Ridgway (1912).

Apodemus peninsulae sowerbyi, new subspecies

Type.--Adult female molting from winter to summer pelage, skin and skull, U. S. National Museum no. 175523, from 30 miles west of Kuei-hua-cheng, 7000 ft., northern Shansi, China; obtained on 23 May 1912 by Arthur de Carle Sowerby, original no. 456.

Distribution.--Known presently from eastern Kansu eastward through Shensi, Shansi and Hopeh to southern Jehol, probably also in northeastern Szechuan, exact limits of range unknown.

Diagnosis.--Size small for species (see measurements). Color: Upper parts (fresh summer pelage) averaging near (15'a) Ochraceous-Buff, suffused with blackish (especially mid-dorsally); winter pelage much paler; underparts grayish-white, individual hairs plumbeous at base, tipped with white; ears pale brownish; feet whitish above, darker below; tail bicolor, pale brownish above, whitish below. Skull: Small (see measurements); rostrum somewhat shortened and conspicuously down-curved; zygomatic notches relatively shallow; zygomatic plates narrow; braincase proportionally more inflated than in other subspecies of the species; auditory bullae moderately inflated; upper incisors slender, their faces averaging bright yellowish-orange.

Measurements.--External measurements of the holotype, followed by those of an adult male and female from the type locality, are, respectively: Length of head and body, 101, 102, 100; length of tail, 93, ----, 102; length of hind foot (su), 21, 21.5, 23; length of ear from notch, 14, 16, 15.5. Corresponding measurements for an adult female from 20 mi. E Taiyuan, Shansi, are: 91, 99, 23, 16. For cranial measurements see Table 1.

Table Key:

A: Occipitonasal length B: Zygomatic breadth C: Mastoid breadth D: Interorbital length E: Frontonasal length F: Nasal length G: Depth of skull H: Alveolar length of maxiary tooth-row

TABLE 1.--CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS OF ADULTS OF SEVERAL SUBSPECIES OF APODEMUS PENINSULAE ============================================================================ Sex | | | | | | | | | and catalogue | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | number or number of | | | | | | | | | individuals averaged | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apodemus peninsulae peninsulae, various localities in central Korea Average 10 (4M, 6F) | 29.2 | 14.2 | 11.8 | 4.7 | 20.1 | 11.4 | 10.2 | 4.3 | Minimum | 28.3 | 13.8 | 11.5 | 4.6 | 19.2 | 10.8 | 9.9 | 4.1 | Maximum | 29.8 | 14.6 | 12.2 | 5.1 | 20.7 | 12.0 | 10.5 | 4.4 |

Apodemus peninsulae nigritalus, Tapucha, Altai Mts., Siberia USNM 175164, M (type) | 28.8 | 14.8 | 12.4 | 4.5 | 20.8 | 11.7 | 11.0 | 4.4 | USNM 175171, F | 28.2 | 13.7 | 11.8 | 4.5 | 19.8 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 4.5 |

Apodemus peninsulae praetor, Sungari River, 60 mi. SW Kirin, Manchuria USNM 197792, M (type) | 30.5 | .... | 12.5 | 4.7 | 21.5 | 12.5 | 10.3 | 4.6 | USNM 197798, F | 30.2 | 14.4 | 11.8 | 4.6 | 21.6 | 12.7 | 10.6 | 4.6 |

Mukden, Manchuria USNM 197782, M | 29.5 | 14.8 | 12.4 | 4.8 | 20.6 | 12.2 | 10.5 | 4.2 |

Apodemus peninsulae sowerbyi, Kuei-hau-cheng, Shansi USNM 175523, F (type) | 27.9 | 13.3 | 11.7 | 4.5 | 19.6 | 11.4 | 9.9 | 4.0 | USNM 175521, M | 27.6 | .... | 11.5 | 4.6 | 18.9 | 11.4 | 9.7 | 4.1 | USNM 175522, F | 27.9 | .... | 11.8 | 4.6 | 19.4 | 11.3 | 9.8 | 4.2 |

20 mi. E Taiyuan, Shansi USNM 172558, F | 27.4 | 13.8 | 11.5 | 4.6 | 19.4 | 11.6 | 10.1 | 4.4 |

12 mi. S Yenan, Shensi USNM 155072, M | 27.8 | 14.1 | .... | 4.4 | 19.5 | 11.0 | .... | 4.3 | USNM 155073, F | 27.7 | 13.3 | 11.5 | 4.5 | 19.4 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 4.2 | USNM 155075, M | 27.9 | 13.5 | 11.4 | 4.5 | 19.2 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 4.3 |

Hsin-lung-shan, 65 mi. NE Peking, Jehol USNM 219229, M | 27.7 | 13.8 | 11.4 | 4.5 | 19.0 | 10.9 | 10.4 | 4.4 |

15 mi. S Lanchow, Kansu USNM 155171, M | 27.7 | 13.6 | 11.7 | 4.6 | 19.0 | 11.3 | 9.9 | 4.5 |

Comparisons.--From Apodemus peninsulae peninsulae (specimens from various localities in central Korea), A. p. sowerbyi differs in: External size smaller throughout, especially hind foot; upper parts, especially in summer pelage, and dorsal aspect of tail paler; skull smaller and less massive; braincase proportionally more inflated; rostrum shorter and noticeably down-curved. From Apodemus peninsulae praetor of Manchuria (holotype and paratypes), A. p. sowerbyi differs in most of the same ways in which it does from peninsulae as well as in having more shallow zygomatic notches, narrower zygomatic plates and smaller, more slender, upper incisors. From Apodemus peninsulae nigritalus of the Altai Mountains of Siberia (holotype and paratypes), A. p. sowerbyi differs in: Smaller size, both external and cranial; paler dorsal coloration; less convex cranial outline in lateral view; smaller auditory bullae.

Remarks.--Apodemus peninsulae sowerbyi is named in honor of the late Arthur de Carle Sowerby whose collections of mammals from North China and Manchuria have added so much to our meager knowledge of that part of the world.

Four specimens from Hsin-lung-shan, 65 mi. NE Peking, here assigned to sowerbyi, are darker dorsally than mice from farther to the west and in this respect may show approach to A. p. praetor. In all other features, however, they closely resemble the new subspecies.

All of the specimens of sowerbyi available to me are from altitudes of 3000 feet or higher. At lower elevations in North China, destruction of wooded habitats owing to intense land-use practices has probably restricted the distribution of sowerbyi primarily to hilly and mountainous areas where brushy, scrub and forest habitats still prevail.

Specimens examined.--Thirty-three, all from North China, as follows: JEHOL: Hsin-lung-shan, 65 mi. NE Peking, 3000 ft., 4. KANSU: 15 mi. S Lanchow, 7400 ft., 1. SHANSI: Chiao-cheng-shan, 90 mi. W Taiyuan, 7000-8000 ft., 4; 30 mi. W Kuei-hau-cheng, 7000 ft., 5; Lung-wang-shan, 20 mi. E Taiyuan, 4000 ft., 10; 18 mi. W Taiyuan, 5000 ft., 1; 50 mi. NW Taiyuan, 5500 ft., 4. SHENSI: 12 mi. S Yenan, 4000 ft., 4.

Apodemus peninsulae, then, is known or suspected to occur over much of southeastern Siberia, Manchuria, Korea and North China. The western limits of its geographic range are unknown. Over this vast area only four subspecies, one newly named, can be ascribed with certainty to peninsulae whereas only two other kinds, giliacus of Thomas from Sakhalin and rufulus of Dukelsky from extreme southeastern Siberia are probably conspecific with it, the latter possibly a synonym of praetor. These considerations underscore the preliminary nature of the present paper. The mammalian fauna of northeastern Asia is scarcely better known today than was that of North America in 1885 when Dr. C. Hart Merriam organized what was later to become the U. S. Biological Survey.

It seems to me that the correct names of four kinds of wood mice discussed above are as follows:

Apodemus peninsulae peninsulae (Thomas, 1907) Apodemus peninsulae nigritalus Hollister, 1913 Apodemus peninsulae praetor Miller, 1914 Apodemus peninsulae sowerbyi Jones, 1956

LITERATURE CITED

ALLEN, G. M. 1940. The mammals of China and Mongolia. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York, 2:XXVI + 621-1350, September 3.