BY
ROBERT J. RUSSELL
University of Kansas Publications
Museum of Natural History
Volume 5, No. 31, pp. 535-542
October 15, 1953
University of Kansas
LAWRENCE
1953
University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History
Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard,
and Robert W. Wilson
Volume 5, No. 31, pp. 535-542
October 15, 1953
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
PRINTED BY
FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1953
24-8662
By
ROBERT J. RUSSELL
In the course of my taxonomic study of the genus Cratogeomys,a high degree of variation was found between several populationsof these gophers in central Jalisco. Two species, C. gymnurus andC. zinseri, occur in this part of the state. Previously C. gymnuruswas known only from southern Jalisco and C. zinseri only fromextreme eastern Jalisco, but through the efforts of J. R. Alcornspecimens were obtained of both species in the central part of thestate. These large gophers are difficult to collect, and I am gratefulto him for securing this significant material. Costs of the fieldwork were defrayed by the National Science Foundation and theKansas University Endowment Association. Thanks are due alsoto those in charge of the United States Biological Surveys Collectionfor the loan of comparative material. Study of the recently acquiredspecimens taken in central Jalisco reveals two undescribedsubspecies each of C. gymnurus and C. zinseri. These may beknown and described as
Type.—Female, adult, skull and skin, No. 33454 Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ.Kansas; from 3 mi. W Tala, 4300 ft., Jalisco, México; obtained on June 2, 1949,by J. R. Alcorn, original No. 9376.
Range.—North-central Jalisco; known from several localities in the vicinityof Tala.
Diagnosis.—Size large (see measurements); tail long, naked; hind footsmall; color pale for species, upper parts Kaiser Brown (capitalized terms areof Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, Washington, D. C.,1912), bases of individual hairs Plumbeous, tips Hazel, underparts creamy-white,bases of hairs Plumbeous; skull large, relatively narrow, rugose; zygomaticbreadth narrower posteriorly than anteriorly; rostrum shallow, relativelybroad in males, narrower in females; interorbital region broad; braincasenarrow and flattened; basioccipital relatively wide, especially anteriorly; mastoidprocesses of squamosal large, knoblike; paroccipital processes long, extendinglaterally over more than half the width of mastoid bullae; upperincisors projecting anteriorly; maxillary teeth relatively large.
Comparisons.—From topotypes of C. g. gymnurus from Zapotlan, Jalisco,the most closely related subspecies, C. g. tellus differs in: Body smaller (totallength averaging 338 instead of 341 in females and 356 instead of 369 in[Pg 538]males); hind foot smaller (averaging 45 instead of 50 in females and 47 insteadof 51 in males); color more brownish above, creamy-white rathe