An Annotated Check List of the Mammals of Michoacan, Mexico Part 12

Mexican Meadow Mouse; Spanish, Metorito

_Microtus mexica.n.u.s fundatus_ Hall, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus.

Nat. Hist., 1:425, December 24, 1948, type from 3-1/2 mi. S.

Patzcuaro, 7,900 ft., Michoacan.

_Range._--Central part of state.

_Specimens examined_, 59: nos. 100636-100694, distributed, with reference to the town of Patzcuaro, as follows: 3-1/2 mi. S, 7,900 ft., 9; 4 mi. S, 7,800 ft., 16; 5 mi. S, 7,800 ft., 26; 9 mi. SE, 8,000 ft., 8.

_Remarks._--Of the 23 females, only one was pregnant. It had two embryos. Average and extreme weights of ten adults of each s.e.x, are: males, 37.8 (31.5-48.2); females, 38.0 (31.0-48.6) grams. Our specimens were trapped in well-defined runways beneath a rail fence where there was a growth of gra.s.s sufficient to make a cover for the runways. Bailey (1900:54-55) has recorded under the name _Microtus mexica.n.u.s phaeus_ specimens from Nahuatzin which may be referable to the subspecies _M. m. fundatus_.

=Mus musculus= subsp.?

House Mouse; Spanish, Raton Casero

_Mus musculus_ Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, 1:62, 1758, type from Upsala, Sweden.

_Range._--Probably throughout state.

_Specimens examined_, 4: nos. 100696-100699, of which one is from Tacambaro, 5,700 ft., and 3 are from 4 mi. S and 1 mi. E Tacambaro, 4,500 ft.

_Remarks._--In each of our specimens the belly is dark, approximately as dark as the back. The specimens caught by us were living in the wild; that is to say, they were not caught in and around buildings.

Elliot (1903:141) records the species from Patzcuaro.

=Rattus rattus alexandrinus= (Geoffroy)

Black Rat; Spanish, Rata Negra

_Mus alexandrinus_ Geoffroy, Catal. Mammif. du Mus. Nat.

d'Hist., Paris, p. 192, 1803, type from Alexandria, Egypt.

_R_[_attus_]. _rattus alexandrinus_, Hinton, Jour. Bombay Nat.

Hist. Soc., 26:63, December 20, 1918.

_Range._--Probably throughout tropical and subtropical parts of state; recorded also from Patzcuaro.

_Specimens examined_, 3: nos. 52027, 52033 from Tancitaro and 8909 from Patzcuaro.

_Remarks._--These specimens answer well to the description of _R. r.

alexandrinus_ except that no. 8909, taken in May, 1901, by F. E. Lutz, has yellowish underparts suggestive of _Rattus rattus frugivorous_. In the town of Tacambaro we saw a freshly killed rat of this species which was all black.

=Sylvilagus florida.n.u.s subcinctus= (Miller)

Florida Cottontail; Spanish, Conejo de Florida

_Lepus florida.n.u.s subcinctus_ Miller, Proc. Acad, Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia, p. 386, October 5, 1899, type from Hacienda El Molino, Negrete, Michoacan.

_Sylvilagus florida.n.u.s subcinctus_, Lyon, Smiths. Misc. Coll., 45:336, June 15, 1904; Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, 29:180, August 31, 1909.

_Range._--Northeastern part of state.

_Remarks._--Nelson (1909:181) records specimens from Acambaro, Querendaro and the type locality.

=Sylvilagus florida.n.u.s restrictus= Nelson

Florida Cottontail; Spanish, Conejo de Florida

_Sylvilagus florida.n.u.s restrictus_ Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Washington, 20:82, July 22,1907, type from Zapotlan, Jalisco; Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, 29:181, August 31, 1909.

_Range._--Forested areas of non-tropical part of state except northeastern part.

_Remarks._--Nelson (1909:183) records specimens from Los Reyes, Patzcuaro and Mount Tancitaro. This species and the Mexican cottontail are favorite small game for the rural peoples.

=Sylvilagus cunicularis cunicularis= (Waterhouse)

Mexican Cottontail; Spanish, Conejo Mexicano

_Lepus cunicularis_ Waterhouse, Nat. Hist. Mammalia, 2:132, 1848, type from Zacualpan (probably in state of Mexico).

_Sylvilagus cunicularis_, Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, 29:239, August 31, 1909.

_Range._--Probably all of state except tropical coastal areas where another subspecies of the same species probably will be found to occur.

_Specimens examined_, 2: nos. 51965, 51966, from Tancitaro, one specimen labeled as taken at 6,000 feet alt.i.tude.

_Remarks._--Nelson (1909:241) has recorded this rabbit also from Patzcuaro.

=Lepus callotis= Wagler

White-sided Jack Rabbit; Spanish, Liebre

_Lepus callotis_ Wagler, Naturliches System der Amphibien, p.

23, 1830, type from southern end of Mexican Tableland; Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, 29:122, August 31, 1909.

_Range._--Approximately northeastern half of state.

_Remarks._--Nelson (1909:124) records specimens from Los Reyes and Querendaro; we did not see any animals of this species in our own field work.

=Taya.s.su angulatus humeralis= Merriam