The Recent Mammals Of Tamaulipas, Mexico Part 14

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from Cueva del Abra, six miles north-northeast of Antiguo Morelos.

Carter and Davis (1961) recorded for the first time this species from North America, on the basis of five specimens collected at Cueva del Abra. From the same locality P. L. Clifton collected several owl pellets which provide, besides many skulls of _Tadarida laticaudata_, four crania of _T. aurispinosa_. Available measurements of three, of the four _T. aurispinosa_, resemble those given by Carter and Davis (_op. cit._) for their specimens. Measurements of the fourth cranium are smaller (greatest length of skull, 19.4; zygomatic breadth, 11.1; interorbital constriction, 3.7; cranial breadth, 9.1; mastoid breadth, 10.7; basal length, 16.3; length of maxillary tooth-row, 7.4; breadth across M3, 7.9), but not outside the expected range of individual variation if we can judge by the range recorded by Jones and Alvarez (1962) for the related _Tadarida laticaudata_.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 4, from [Cueva del Abra], 6 mi. (by road) NNE Antiguo Morelos.

=Tadarida laticaudata ferruginea= Goodwin

Geoffroy's Free-tailed Bat

1954. _Tadarida laticaudata ferruginea_ Goodwin, Amer. Mus.

Novit., 1670:2, June 28, type from 8 mi. N Antiguo Morelos, Tamaulipas.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from southeastern part of state.

Specimens from three miles south and 16 miles west of Piedra were found in a crevice inside a cave. Two days previously _Desmodus rotundus_ and _Natalus stramineus_ were obtained from the same cave. All other specimens from the Sierra de Tamaulipas were caught in mist nets.

_Nycticeus humeralis_, _Myotis velifer_, _Eptesicus fuscus_, _Lasiurus borealis_ and _L. intermedius_ were taken in nets that also captured _T. laticaudata_.

All specimens taken (June 19-23) in the Sierra de Tamaulipas were females, except one. Of 33 females taken, 27 carried a single embryo each, the embryos averaging 27.0 (25-28) mm. in crown-rump length; the other five were lactating. Weight of the pregnant females averaged 16.0 (13-18) grams and that of the five lactating individuals averaged 13.0 (12-14) grams. A male weighed 22 grams.

For the taxonomic status of this species in North America see Jones and Alvarez (1962).

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 65: Sierra de Tamaulipas, 2 mi. S, 10 mi. W Piedra, 1200 ft., 27; Sierra de Tamaulipas, 3 mi. S, 16 mi. W Piedra, 1400 ft., 7; 5 mi.

S El Mante, 8 (AMNH); 11 mi. S El Mante, 13 (AMNH); 10 km.

NNE Antiguo Morelos, 1; 8 mi. N Antiguo Morelos, 7 (5 AMNH, 2 KU); 20 mi. SW El Mante, 2 (AMNH).

=Molossus ater nigricans= Miller

Red Mastiff Bat

1902. _Molossus nigricans_ Miller, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia, 54:395, September 12, type from Acaponeta, Nayarit.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Southern part of state, north at least to Guemes.

At Rancho Pano Ayuctle, according to the field notes of the collector (Schaldach), the red mastiff bat was common, and found daytime retreats in hollows in cypress trees. Schaldach twice found groups of bats in such hollows. _M. a. nigricans_ is an early forager and most individuals seen were in flight before sunset, usually flying in a more or less straight line at heights of 25 to 60 feet above the ground. The odor of the chest gland was described by Schaldach as "strong" and "geranium-like." A female obtained three miles northeast of Guemes on August 19 carried a single embryo that was 33 mm. in crown-rump length.

Specimens examined average slightly smaller than the type specimen, especially in total length, length of hind foot, length of skull and length of maxillary tooth-row. Davis (1951:219) also noted some of these same differences in a specimen examined by him from two miles south of Ciudad Victoria. The variation in color is great among Tamaulipan specimens. Of the 15 examined, two are Dark Mummy Brown, six are Mummy Brown, six are Sudan Brown, and one is paler than Sudan Brown.

I follow Goodwin (1960:6) in using the specific name _ater_.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 15: 3 mi. NE Guemes, 2; Rancho Santa Rosa, 25 km. N, 13 km. W Cd.

Victoria, 260 m., 2; Rancho Pano Ayuctle, 6 mi. N Gomez Farias, 300 ft., 1; Rancho Pano Ayuctle, 25 mi. N El Mante and 3 km. W Pan-American Hwy., 2200 ft., 8; 8 km. W, 10 km.

N El Encino, 400 ft., 2.

Additional records (Davis, 1951:219): 2 mi. S Cd. Victoria; Altamira.

=Ateles geoffroyi velerosus= Gray

Spider Monkeys

1866. _Ateles vellerosus_ Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p.

773 (for 1865), April, type locality "Brasil?"; restricted to Mirador, 2000 ft., about 15 mi. NE Huatusco, Veracruz, by Kellogg and Goldman, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 96:33, November 2, 1944.

1944. _Ateles geoffroyi vellerosus_, Kellogg and Goldman, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 96:32, November 2.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Probably extreme southern part.

No specimens of this monkey have been taken in Tamaulipas although Kellogg and Goldman (1944:34) pointed out that it probably occurred in the tropical forest of the southern part of the state. Later, Villa (1958:347) reported that A. Malaga Alba saw monkeys in 1954 at Barranca de Caballeros, approximately 25 kilometers north-northwest of Ciudad Victoria. No other report of their occurrence in the state has been forthcoming.

=Dasypus novemcinctus mexica.n.u.s= Peters

Nine-banded Armadillo

1864. _Dasypus novemcinctus_ var. _mexica.n.u.s_ Peters, Montsb. preuss Akad. Wiss., Berlin, p. 180, type from Matamoros, Tamaulipas (see Hollister, Jour. Mamm., 6:60, February 9, 1925).

1920. _D[asypus]. novemcinctus mexica.n.u.s_, Goldman, Smiths.

Misc. Coll., 69 (5):66, April 24.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Probably state-wide except on Mexican Plateau; presently known only from five localities.

A 13-pound female from four kilometers west-southwest of La Purisima was captured after it was forced by the collector (Dalquest) and his dog out of the burrow that was under a log. A young specimen examined from seven kilometers southwest of La Purisima was captured by a dog. A partial skeleton including the skull was picked up on the barrier beach at a place 33 miles south of Washington Beach.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 3 (see text immediately above).

Additional records: Matamoros (Hollister, 1925:60); Rancho del Cielo (Hooper, 1953:11).

=Sylvilagus brasiliensis truei= (J. A. Allen)

Forest Rabbit

1890. _Lepus truei_ J. A. Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.

Hist., 3:192, December 10, type from Mirador, Veracruz.

1950. _Sylvilagus brasiliensis truei_, Hershkovitz, Proc. U.

S. Nat. Mus., 100:351, May 26.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Southern part of state; known only from Rancho del Cielo (Goodwin, 1954:7).

=Sylvilagus audubonii parvulus= (J. A. Allen)

Desert Cottontail