Mammals From Tamaulipas, Mexico

Part 1

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Mammals from Tamaulipas, Mexico

ROLLIN H. BAKER

University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History

Volume 5, No. 12, pp. 207-218 December 15, 1951

University of Kansas LAWRENCE 1951

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 5, No. 12, pp. 207-218 December 15, 1951

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1951

23-8338

Mammals from Tamaulipas, Mexico

ROLLIN H. BAKER

Forming the northeastern border of Mexico, Tamaulipas extends in an elongated, north-south direction from the Temperate into the Torrid Zone and contains faunal elements from both the Nearctic and Neotropical regions. The mammals are less known than those from some of the bordering states; for the most part collecting has been limited to a few localities, chiefly along the Pan-American Highway. Accordingly, as a step towards a long-range study of the mammals of Tamaulipas, the Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansas acquired from William J. Schaldach, Jr., a small, but significant, collection of mammals taken in the last month of 1949 and the first four months of 1950.

Collections were made at several places in the vicinity of Ciudad Victoria, including localities along the humid, eastern face of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Many of these specimens were obtained near camps made west of the village of El Carrizo. This small community is on the Pan-American highway, 70 kilometers (by highway) south of Ciudad Victoria. The resulting collections, which are reported upon here, disclose that several tropical mammals range farther northward than previously reported. Funds for financing the field work were made available by a grant from the Kansas University Endowment Association.

ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES

~Didelphis mesamericana mesamericana~ Oken

Central American Opossum

Did[elphys] mes-americana Oken, Lehrbuch d. Naturgesch., pt. 3, vol. 2:1152, 1816. (Type from Northern Mexico.)

Didelphis mes-americana Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 16:256, August 18, 1902.

Specimens examined, 2 as follows: 36 km. N and 10 km. W Ciudad Victoria, 1 km. E El Barretal, on Río Purificacíon, 1; 12 km. N and 4 km. W Ciudad Victoria, 1.

~Philander opossum pallidus~ (Allen)

Four-eyed Opossum

Metachirus fuscogriseus pallidus Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 14:215, July 3, 1901. (Type from Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico.)

Philander opossum pallidus Dalquest, Occ. Papers Mus. Zool., Louisiana State Univ., No. 23:2, July 10, 1950.

Specimens examined, 3 from 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo.

Remarks.--These three specimens have proportionately longer tails than typical P. o. pallidus from central Veracruz; total length and length of tail of two adult males are 575, 295, and 568, 290 respectively.

Part 2

This marsupial has been previously unrecorded from Tamaulipas or from so northward a locality. The four-eyed opossum evidently ranges northward along the east face of the Sierra Madre Oriental within the humid division of the Upper Tropical Life-zone. These animals, all males, were taken in steel traps baited with the bodies of skinned mice or birds. Sets were made along well-used trails leading from a densely vegetated arroyo into a corn field through openings in a fence of roughly piled logs. The elevation of this locality is approximately 2500 feet.

~Desmodus rotundus murinus~ Wagner

Vampire Bat

D[esmodus] murinus Wagner, Schreber's Säugthiere, Suppl., 1:377, 1840. (Type from Mexico.)

Desmodus rotundus murinus Osgood, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., publ. 155, zool. ser., 10:63, January 10, 1912.

Specimens examined, 9 as follows: 12 km. W and 8 km. N Ciudad Victoria, 2500 ft., 3; 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 6 km. W of the [Pan-American] highway [at El Carrizo], 6.

Remarks.--Vampire bats were taken at two caves. At the cave called "Los Troncones", 12 kilometers west and 8 kilometers north of Ciudad Victoria, seven bats were shot down; three were saved. The second cave, south of Ciudad Victoria, was considerably damper than the first. Vampires were found in a small side chamber; nine bats were knocked down. No other kinds of bats were present in either cave.

~Sylvilagus floridanus connectens~ (Nelson)

Florida Cottontail

Lepus floridanus connectens Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 17:105, May 18, 1904. (Type from Chichicaxtle, Veracruz, Mexico.)

Sylvilagus floridanus connectens Lyon and Osgood, Catal. Type spec. Mamm. U. S. Nat. Mus., Bull. 62:32, January 28, 1909.

Specimens examined, 2 from 70 km. [by highway] S. Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo.

~Sciurus aureogaster aureogaster~ F. Cuvier

Red-bellied Squirrel

Specimens examined, 13 as follows: 43 km. S Ciudad Victoria, 1; 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria, and 6 km. W of [Pan-American] highway [at El Carrizo], 3; 70 km. [by hwy.] S Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo, 9.

Remarks.--These colorful squirrels were taken in thick timber and brush, and locally are referred to as "ardilla pinta" or "ardilla colorada." One female obtained on January 22 is black. Local hunters state that these squirrels are most active early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Two squirrels were seen in copulation on January 19.

~Sciurus negligens~ Nelson

Little Gray Squirrel

Sciurus negligens Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 12:147, June 3, 1898. (Type from Alta Mira, Tamaulipas, Mexico.)

Specimens examined, 17 as follows: 70 km. [by highway] S of Ciudad Victoria and 6 km. W of the [Pan-American] highway [at El Carrizo], 5; 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo, 12.

Remarks.--Referred to as "ardilla chica" locally, these squirrels were most frequently seen in the dense forest of the lower, elevations. Active both in trees and on the ground, these animals were reported as being destructive to corn crops. Females taken in January were lactating.

~Heterogeomys hispidus concavus~ Nelson and Goldman

Hispid Pocket Gopher

Heterogeomys hispidus concavus Nelson and Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 42:148, March 30, 1929. (Type from Pinal de Amoles, Queretaro, Mexico.)

Specimens examined, 5 as follows: 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 5 km. W El Carrizo, 4; 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo, 1.

Remarks.--These gophers have been compared with specimens of H. h. hispidus from Veracruz (5 km. N Jalapa and 4 km. WNW Fortin) and with specimens of H. h. concavus from San Luis Potosí (Xilitla and vicinity and 3 mi. NW Pujal); the latter were examined through the courtesy of Dr. George H. Lowery, Jr., of the Museum of Zoology at Louisiana State University. These five specimens are assigned to H. h. concavus and resemble in every way this subspecies except: slightly smaller, somewhat darker, and skull with lambdoidal crest less inclined forward. In the latter feature, the single skull available seems to resemble most closely that of H. h. hispidus. Unfortunately, all but one skull, that of a subadult female, were destroyed in the field.

This is the first known record of this genus in Tamaulipas and the most northern locality from which specimens have been taken. At this latitude, the gopher appears to be restricted to the humid belt on the east face of the Sierra Madre Oriental. These large gophers were difficult to trap by ordinary means; Schaldach got two by using large-sized Macabee traps but the others were taken at night either with the aid of a dog or by natives with slingshots.

~Liomys irroratus texensis~ Merriam

Part 3

Spiny Pocket Mouse

Liomys texensis Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 15:44, March 5, 1902. (Type from Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas.)

Liomys irroratus texensis Goldman, N. Amer. Fauna, 34:59, September 7, 1911.

Specimens examined, 15 as follows: 7 km. S and 2 km. W San Fernando, 8; 36 km. N and 10 km. W Ciudad Victoria, 1 km. E El Barretal, on Río Purificacíon, 1; 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo, 6.

Remarks.--Most of these mice were taken in densely vegetated fallow fields, where both grass and brush were found. Many of the mice were captured at their burrow openings, some of which were found to be plugged and others not plugged.

~Reithrodontomys fulvescens intermedius~ Allen

Fulvous Harvest Mouse

Reithrodontomys mexicanus intermedius Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 7:136, May 21, 1895. (Type from Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas.)

Reithrodontomys fulvescens intermedius Howell, N. Amer. Fauna, 36:47, June 5, 1914.

Specimen examined, 1 from 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo.

~Baiomys taylori taylori~ (Thomas)

Pygmy Mouse

Hesperomys (Vesperimus) taylori Thomas, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist, ser. 5, 19:66, January, 1887. (Type from San Diego, Duval County, Texas.)

Baiomys taylori Mearns, Mamm. Mex. Bound., Bull. 56:381, April 13, 1907.

Specimens examined, 2 from 70 km. [by highway] S Ciudad Victoria and 2 km. W El Carrizo.

Remarks.--Specimens were captured in runways in dense grass and weeds at the edge of a corn field.

~Peromyscus leucopus texanus~ (Woodhouse)

White-footed Mouse

Hesperomys texana Woodhouse, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 6:242, 1853. (Type probably from the vicinity of Mason, Mason County, Texas.)

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