An Annotated Check List of the Mammals of Michoacan, Mexico Part 6

Plains Pocket Gopher; Spanish, Tuza Llanera; Tarascan, c.u.mu (Como)

_Platygeomys gymnurus imparilis_, Goldman, Jour. Mamm., 20:89, February 14, 1939, type from Patzcuaro, 7,000 ft., Michoacan.

_Platygeomys tylorhinus_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 8:167, pl.

13, fig. 1, January 31, 1895.

_Range._--Patzcuaro and Tacambaro, as now known.

_Specimens examined_, 14: nos. 100153-100166, distributed by localities as follows: 2 mi. W Patzcuaro, 7,700 ft., 2; 3 mi. S Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 1; 4 mi. S Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 1; 5 mi. S.

Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 6; 9 mi. SE Patzcuaro, 8,000 ft., 1; 1-3/4 mi. S Tacambaro, 5,700 ft., 1; 1-1/2 mi. S Tacambaro, 5,700 ft., 2.

_Remarks._--Burrows were common in cultivated fields and along the roads and trails on the southern and southeastern side of Lake Patzcuaro. In the vicinity of Tacambaro we noted burrows only in the area between one and a half and two miles south of town where two specimens were taken. As mentioned in the immediately preceding account, the small _Th.o.m.omys umbrinus pullus_ and the large _Cratogeomys_ were found in the same area. The color of our specimens varies from Cinnamon-Brown through Prouts Brown and in some specimens is Fuscous Black.

Hooper (1946:397) has shown that the genus _Platygeomys_ is not generically distinct from the earlier named _Cratogeomys_. From independent study of specimens not examined by Hooper we have satisfied ourselves that he is correct in synonymizing _Platygeomys_ under _Cratogeomys_. Average and extreme weights of 4 of each s.e.x from 2 to 5 miles south of Patzcuaro are: [M], 683 (562-819); [F], 558 (438-707) grams.

=Cratogeomys angustirostris= (Merriam)

Plains Pocket Gopher; Spanish, Tuza Llanera; Tarascan, c.u.mu (Como)

_Platygeomys tylorhinus angustirostris_ Merriam, Proc. Biol.

Soc. Washington, 16:81, May 29, 1903, type from Patamban, 10,000 ft., Michoacan.

_Platygeomys angustirostris_, Goldman, Jour. Mamm., 20:90, February 14, 1939.

_Range._--Known only from the type locality.

=Cratogeomys varius= (Goldman)

Plains Pocket Gopher; Spanish, Tuza Llanera; Tarascan, c.u.mu (Como)

_Platygeomys varius_ Goldman, Jour. Mamm., 20:90, February 14, 1939, type from Uruapan, about 6,000 ft., Michoacan.

_Range._--Known only from the type locality.

_Remarks._--Specimens from localities intermediate between Uruapan, the type locality of _C. varius_, and the known localities of occurence of _Cratogeomys gynmurus imparilis_ are much needed to ascertain if _C. varius_ is specifically different from _C. g.

imparilis_, or merely subspecifically different.

=Zygogeomys trichopus tarascensis= Goldman

Michoacan Pocket Gopher; Spanish, Tuza de Michoacan; Tarascan, c.u.mu (Como)

_Zygogeomys trichopus tarascensis_ Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Washington, 51:211, December 23, 1938, type from six miles southeast of Patzcuaro, 8,000 ft., Michoacan.

_Zygogeomys trichopus_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 8:196, January 31, 1895.

_Range._--"Known only from the upper slopes of the mountains in the vicinity of the type locality" (Goldman, 1938:211).

_Remarks._--As we drove an automobile from Patzcuaro to Tacambaro we noted mounds made by pocket gophers along the road in the highest part of the pa.s.s and supposed that these mounds were made by _Zygogeomys_ although we took no specimens of any kind of pocket gopher in the pa.s.s.

=Zygogeomys trichopus trichopus= Merriam

Michoacan Pocket Gopher; Spanish, Tuza de Michoacan; Tarascan, c.u.mu (Como)

_Zygogeomys trichopus_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 8:196, pl. 6, 14-18, January 31, 1895, type from Nahuatzin, Michoacan.

_Range._--Alt.i.tudinally from 6,000 feet to 11,800 feet on Mountains Tancitaro, Patamban, and at Nahuatzin.

_Specimens examined_, 9: nos. 51970-51978, all from Mount Tancitaro, distributed by alt.i.tude as follows: 6,000 ft., 5; 7,800 ft., 3; 10,500 ft., 1.

_Remarks._--The upper parts of specimens available to us are rich Seal-Brown and glossy. The chin, and in most specimens, the upper side of the hind feet are white; the irregular white patch of the throat is present only in two young females, numbers 51974 and 51978.

=Liomys pictus plantinarensis= Merriam

Western Spiny Pocket Mouse; Spanish, Raton Espinoso Occidental; Tarascan word for mouse is Jeyaqui (Hayake)

_Liomys plantinarensis_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 15:46, March 5, 1902, type from Plantinar, Jalisco.

_Liomys pictus plantinarensis_, Goldman, N. Amer. Fauna, 34:37, September 7, 1911.

_Range._--Northwestern part of state in semitropical areas.

_Remarks._--Goldman (1911:38) records specimens from Los Reyes, noting that in some cranial features they suggest intergradation between _L.

p. plantinarensis_ and _L. p. parviceps_.

=Liomys pictus parviceps= Goldman

Western Spiny Pocket Mouse; Spanish, Raton Espinoso Occidental

_Liomys parviceps_ Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 17:82, March 21, 1904, type from La Salada, "40 miles south of Uruapan, Michoacan."

_Liomys pictus parviceps_ Goldman, N. Amer. Fauna, 34:38-39, September 7, 1911.

_Range._--Southern part of state in semitropical and tropical areas.

_Specimens examined_, 28: nos. 100185-100199, 52072-52084, distributed by localities as follows: Apatzingan, 1,040 ft., 13; 1 mi. E and 2-1/2 mi. S Tacambaro, 4,700 ft., 4; 4 mi. S and 1 mi. E Tacambaro, 4,500 ft., 5; 1 mi. E and 6 mi. S Tacambaro, 4,000 ft., 6.

_Remarks._--Most measurements show a s.e.xual dimorphism in this subspecies. Adult males are 15 per cent larger in external measurements except that the foot is approximately the same. Cranial measurements average approximately 5 per cent larger in males except that the breadth of the rostrum and length of the maxillary tooth-row are slightly less. South and east of Tacambaro our specimens all were taken in dry semitropical country, where bananas and sugar cane were the princ.i.p.al crops grown. This subspecies has been recorded also from La Huacana, Michoacan, as well as from La Salada, the type locality, by Goldman (1911:39).

=Liomys irroratus jaliscensis= (Allen)

Northern Spiny Pocket Mouse; Spanish, Raton Norteno