The Recent Mammals Of Tamaulipas, Mexico Part 28

1831. _Pr[ocyon]. hernandezii_ Wagler, Isis von Oken, 24:514, type from Tlalpan, Valley of Mexico.

1890. _Procyon lotor hernandezi_, J. A. Allen, Bull. Amer.

Mus. Nat. Hist., 3:176, December 10.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Western part of state; known only from Rancho Santa Rosa.

The specimen examined is identified as _P. l. hernandezii_ because the animal differs from specimens of _P. l. fuscipes_ from southern Texas and Coahuila in the same way that Goldman (1950:50) noted that _P. l.

hernandezii_ differs from _P. l. fuscipes_. For example, in the specimen from Rancho Santa Rosa the interorbital region is lower, the braincase is less depressed near the fronto-parietal suture, the pos...o...b..tal process is longer and more pointed, and the upper carna.s.sial is longer. The color is the same as in specimens of _fuscipes_ from Texas except that the postauricular spot is smaller, and the ground color is slightly more grayish. The median dorsal area is black, forming a longitudinal band about 3 cm. wide.

_Record of occurrence._--One specimen examined from Rancho Santa Rosa, 25 km. N, 13 km. W Cd. Victoria.

=Nasua narica molaris= Merriam

Coati

1902. _Nasua narica molaris_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 15:68, March 22, type from Manzanillo, Colima.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Over all of state.

A male and female, both adults, from the same locality in the Sierra de Tamaulipas weighed, respectively, 3,150 grams and 4,836 grams. Three young from the same place weighed 2,250, 2,250, and 2,650 grams.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 7: Sierra de Tamaulipas, 10 mi. W, 2 mi. S Piedra, 1200 ft., 5; Rancho Pano Ayuctle, 25 mi. N El Mante, 3 km. W Pan-American Highway, 2200 ft., 1; 2 km. W El Carrizo, 1.

Additional records: Sierra San Carlos (San Jose, El Mulato) (Dice, 1937:249); Soto la Marina (Goldman, 1942:81); Cd.

Victoria (_ibid._); 10 mi. NE Zamorina (Hooper, 1953:3); 3 mi. NW Acuna (_ibid._); 19 km. SW Mante (Davis, 1944:381).

=Potos flavus aztecus= Thomas

Kinkajou

1902. _Potos flavus aztecus_ Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 9:268, April, type from Atoyac, Veracruz.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Uncertain; one specimen was seen by Leopold (1959:437) near Acuna.

=Mustela frenata=

Long-tailed Weasel

This species occurs in practically all of the state, but as in most other areas actual records are few; only two specimens, both males, have been examined. One was taken at Jaumave, in a steel-trap baited with fresh egg. It weighed 325 grams. The other was taken in the vicinity of Altamira and weighed 434 grams.

Two subspecies have been reported from Tamaulipas; _Mustela frenata frenata_ that occurs in the central and northern parts of the state and _M. f. tropicalis_ that occurs in the tropical area in the southern part of the state.

=Mustela frenata frenata= Lichtenstein

1831. _Mustela frenata_ Lichtenstein, Darstellung neuer oder wenig bekannter Saugethiere ..., pl. 42 and corresponding text, unpaged, type from Ciudad Mexico, Mexico.

1877. _Putorius mexica.n.u.s_ Coues, Fur-bearing animals, U. S.

Geol. Surv. Territories, Misc. Publ., 8:42, a _nomen nudum_ [cited by Coues in synonymy as "_Putorius mexica.n.u.s_, Berlandier, MMS. ic. ined. 4 (Tamaulipas and Matamoras)"].

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Central and northern parts of state.

The specimen from Jaumave is clearly _M. f. frenata_, but the other from northwest of Altamira has many characters of the subspecies _M. f.

tropicalis_ and is an intergrade between the two subspecies. In cranial features and in measurements the animal is like _frenata_. For example: least width of palate more than length of P4; distance between anterior border of auditory bulla and foramen ovale equal to the width of four (including I3) upper incisors; depth of tympanic bulla less than distance between it and foramen ovale; length of tail amounting to 82 per cent of length of head and body. The coloration is more nearly like that of _tropicalis_. For example, the region between the ears and the region behind the ears as far as the shoulders is almost black; hairs of the soles of the forefeet are of the same color as in _tropicalis_.

But, width of the whitish underparts amounts to 53 per cent of the circ.u.mference of the body; in this respect the specimen is like _frenata_. I refer the specimen to _frenata_ because, to me, it is slightly more nearly like it.

_Measurements._--The male from 6 mi. N, 6 mi. W Altamira affords measurements as follows: 500; 226; 53; 23; basilar length (Hensel), 49.5; breadth of rostrum, 14.3; interorbital constriction, 11.9; orbitonasal length, 15.2; mastoid breadth, 27.2; zygomatic breadth, 32.4; tympanic bullae, length, 16.8; breadth, 7.5; length of m1, 5.7; P4, lateral length, 5.4, medial, 5.8; M1, breadth, 4.6, length, 2.4; depth of skull at anterior edge of basioccipital, 14.7.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 2: Jaumave, 2400 ft., 1; 6 mi. N, 6 mi. W Altamira, 1.

Additional records (Hall, 1951:347): Matamoros; Miquihuana.

=Mustela frenata tropicalis= (Merriam)

1896. _Putorius tropicalis_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:30, June 30, type from Jico, Veracruz.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Tropical area in south part of state; reported only from 50 mi. south of Ciudad Victoria (Hall, 1951:366).

=Eira barbara senex= (Thomas)

Tayra

1900. _Galictis barbara senex_ Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 5:146, January, type from Hacienda Tortugas, approximately 600 ft., Jalapa, Veracruz.

1951. _Eira barbara senex_, Hershkovitz, Fieldiana-Zool., 31:561, July 10.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from Pano Ayuctle (Hooper, 1953:4).

=Taxidea taxus=

Badger

The badger in Tamaulipas is poorly known because only a few specimens have been reported from the state. I have examined only two; one is the skull of a juvenile picked up in the sea along the barrier beach and the other is the skull of an adult male taken in a steel-trap baited with a bird body and rabbit meat. The trap was set in front of a hole in the semidesert area 12 miles south of San Carlos.

On their map 471 Hall and Kelson (1959:927) show a total of five subspecies of _Taxidea taxus_. They include the northern part of Tamaulipas in the geographic range of _T. t. berlandieri_. On page 926 Hall and Kelson (_op. cit._) list ten additional subspecies described by Schantz. One of them _T. t. littoralis_ (Schantz, 1949:301) was based on specimens from southeastern Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Of the two specimens examined by me the one from the barrier beach is here a.s.signed to _T. l. littoralis_ on geographic grounds, and the other one from the vicinity of San Carlos to _T. l. berlandieri_.

=Taxidea taxus berlandieri= Baird

1858. _Taxidea berlandieri_ Baird, Mammals, in Repts. Expl.