Part 2

Scalops argentatus texanus Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 3:221, April 29, 1891.

Type.--Sex unknown, adult, skin no. 3488, skull no. 2740, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Presidio County, Texas; September, 1887, obtained by Wm. Lloyd.

Range.--Limits of range in Trans-Pecos Texas unknown.

Diagnosis.--Size small; rostrum heavy and broad; lower jaws heavy; palatine space wide with upper tooth-rows arched laterally; teeth large, especially fourth premolar and molars.

Comparison.--From adults of comparable age from Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, S. a. texanus differs in: Rostrum broader and heavier; lower jaws heavier; palatine space wider, with upper tooth-rows more arched laterally; individual teeth in both jaws larger, especially fourth premolar and molars. From S. a. intermedius, which is geographically nearest to the northeast (adult specimens from Meade, Clark and Barber counties, Kansas, and Dewey County, Oklahoma), S. a. texanus differs in: Size smaller; rostrum less massive and shorter; tooth-row shorter.

Remarks.--The type has been previously examined by True (op. cit.:44). The skin is faded and of little taxonomic worth. The anterior part of the skull is present along with both upper tooth-rows and most of the lower jaws. The teeth are well worn, indicative of old adulthood. In size, S. a. texanus appears closest to moles from southern Texas (Rockport) which previously were assigned to the subspecies Scalopus aquaticus texanus. The tooth-rows are of the same length, but the individual teeth of S. a. texanus are significantly larger.

The moles in southern Texas previously ascribed to Scalopus aquaticus texanus seem to be without a name and may be known as follows:

=Scalopus aquaticus alleni= new subspecies

Scalops texanus, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 5:200, August 18, 1893.

Scalops aquaticus texanus True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 19:21, December 21, 1896.

Scalopus aquaticus texanus Jackson, N. Amer. Fauna, 38:50, September 30, 1915; Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus., Bull. 128:15, April 29, 1924; Davis, Amer. Midl. Nat., 27:386, March, 1942.

Type.--Male, adult, skin no. 7189, skull no. 5788, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Rockport, Aransas County, Texas; 29 January 1893; obtained by H. P. Attwater.

Range.--Southern Texas, north to Bexar County and east to Refugio County (see Davis, loc. cit.).

Diagnosis.--Size small; according to Davis (loc. cit.), "... length of hind foot seldom more than 19 mm.; total length seldom more than 140 mm. Skull small and flat, seldom exceeding 33 mm. in occipitonasal length and seldom equalling 10 mm. in depth; maxillary breadth usually less than 10 mm.; alveolar length of maxillary tooth row seldom more than 10.5 mm."

Comparison.--From S. a. cryptus, geographically adjacent to the east, S. a. alleni differs in: Size smaller; color paler; skull smaller and flatter. From S. a. intermedius, geographically adjacent to the north, S. a. alleni differs in: Size smaller; skull smaller and flatter with shorter tooth-row (see Davis, op cit.:384, 385). For comparison with S. a. texanus, see account of that subspecies.

Remarks.--This mole is named in honor of Dr. J. A. Allen in recognition for his work on Texas mammals. Grateful acknowledgment is made to those in charge of the collection of Recent mammals in the American Museum of Natural History for permitting me to examine the moles from Aransas County and the type specimen of Scalops argentatus texanus Allen.

Transmitted January 15, 1951.

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