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