The Recent Mammals Of Tamaulipas, Mexico Part 6

Additional records: Matamoros (Baird, 1858:234); Altamira (J. A. Allen, 1901:167).

=Didelphis marsupialis texensis= J. A. Allen

1901. _Didelphis marsupialis texensis_ J. A. Allen, Bull.

Amer. Mus. Hist., 14:172, June 15, type from Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Northern, central and southwestern parts of state.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 7: San Fernando, 180 ft., 1; Villa Mainero, 1700 ft., 2; 36 km. N, 10 km. W Cd. Victoria (1 km. E El Barretal), on Rio Purificacion, 1; 12 km. N, 4 km. W Cd. Victoria, 1; Ejido Santa Isabel (12 km. S Llera), 2 km. W Pan-American Highway, 2000 ft., 1; 4 mi. N Jaumave, 2500 ft., 1.

Additional records: Matamoros (J. A. Allen, 1901:173); El Mulato, San Carlos Mts. (Dice, 1937:249); Rancho del Cielo (Hooper, 1953:3).

=Philander opossum pallidus= (J. A. Allen)

Four-eyed Opossum

1901. _Metachirus fuscogriseus pallidus_ J. A. Allen, Bull.

Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 14:215, July 3, type from Orizaba, Veracruz.

1955. _Philander opossum pallidus_, Miller and Kellogg, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 205:8, March 3.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from along eastern side of Sierra Madre Oriental, north to vicinity of La Purisima.

In Tamaulipas, the four-eyed opossum is seemingly common at relatively low elevations in the Tropical Deciduous Forest along the eastern side of the Sierra Madre Oriental, but the species is not restricted to this area as one specimen is available from a place seven kilometers southwest of La Purisima, in the drier forest of west-central Tamaulipas. The highest elevation at which individuals have been taken in the state is approximately 2500 feet.

Specimens obtained two kilometers west of El Carrizo were caught in steel traps that were baited with the bodies of small birds and mammals and that were set in trails leading through a fence of piled logs that separated a cornfield from adjacent forest. At Rancho Pano Ayuctle, some individuals were trapped in steel sets baited with sc.r.a.ps of meat; others were shot at night in the forest along the Rio Sabinas.

Schaldach reported in his notes that four-eyed opossums robbed trap lines set for small mammals at Rancho Pano Ayuctle. W. W. Dalquest trapped an individual seven kilometers southwest of La Purisima using the body of an armadillo as bait. The natives of southern Tamaulipas refer to this animal as "tlacuache cuatrojos."

Tamaulipan specimens of _P. o. pallidus_ differ from topotypes and other specimens from the vicinity of the type locality in averaging somewhat paler dorsally and slightly smaller in cranial dimensions when specimens of equal age are compared. They differ also in having a longer terminal area of white on the tail, 53.1 per cent (43.3-62.8) of the length of the tail in 13 specimens from Tamaulipas, and 38.7 (30.9-48.2) per cent in 14 specimens from the vicinity of the type locality of _pallidus_ in Veracruz; specimens from northern Veracruz are intermediate between the two mentioned populations in amount of white on the tail. Baker (1951:210) noted that the specimens from two kilometers west of El Carrizo had "proportionately longer tails than typical _P. o. pallidus_ from central Veracruz," but I do not find this character to be consistent in the more abundant material now available.

_Measurements._--External and cranial measurements of three adults, a male and female from Rancho Pano Ayuctle and a male from two kilometers west of El Carrizo, respectively, are as follows: 577, 580, 568; 294, 288, 290; 46, 43, 43; 40, 42, 37; condylobasal length, ----, 70.1, 69.9; palatal length, 43.2, 42.3, 41.9; lambdoidal breadth, 23.6, 22.0, 22.7; alveolar length of maxillary tooth-row, 29.5, 28.4, 29.0.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 15: 7 km. SW La Purisima, 1; Rancho Pano Ayuctle, 6 mi. N Gomez Farias, 300 ft., 1; Rancho Pano Ayuctle, 25 mi. N Mante and 3 km. W Pan-American Highway, 300 ft., 7; 10 km. N, 8 km. W El Encino, 400 ft., 3; 2 km. W El Carrizo, 2500 ft., 3 (one specimen deposited in Inst.i.tuto de Biologia, Mexico).

=Marmosa mexicana mexicana= Merriam

Mexican Mouse-opossum

1897. _Marmosa murina mexicana_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 11:44, March 16, type from Juquila, 1500 m., Oaxaca.

1902. _Marmosa mexicana_, Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 39:19, April.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from Aserradero del Infernillo (Goodwin, 1954:3) in southwestern part of state.

_Marmosa_ has been reported from Tamaulipas only by Goodwin (1954:3), who examined "15 rami, and one fragment of maxillary" that were found in a cave. Possibly they were remains from owl pellets.

=Sorex saussurei saussurei= Merriam

Saussure's Shrew

1892. _Sorex saussurei_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 7:173, September 29, type from N slope Sierra Nevada de Colima, approximately 8000 ft., Jalisco.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from Miquihuana.

Jackson (1928:156) reported four specimens from Miquihuana, which he incorrectly located in Nuevo Leon.

=Cryptotis parva berlandieri= (Baird)

Least Shrew

1858. _Blarina berlandieri_ Baird, Mammals, _in_ Repts.

Expl. Surv. ..., 8(1):53, July 14, type from Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

1941. _Cryptotis parva berlandieri_, Davis, Jour. Mamm., 22:413, November 13.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Throughout state.

A female taken on July 5, one mile south of Altamira, carried three embryos 5 mm. in crown-rump length. A female from the same locality and another taken on June 6 in the Sierra de Tamaulipas were lactating.

Weight of each of six males was 5.0 grams.

_Records of occurrence._--Specimens examined, 9: Sierra de Tamaulipas, 10 mi. W, 2 mi. S Piedra, 1200 ft., 1; 1 mi. S Altamira, 8.

Additional records: Matamoros (Baird, 1858:53); 9 km. N Rancho Tigre (Goodwin, 1954:3).

=Cryptotis pergracilis pueblensis= Jackson

Slender Small-eared Shrew

1933. _Cryptotis pergracilis pueblensis_ Jackson, Proc.

Biol. Soc. Was.h.i.+ngton, 46:79, April 27, type from Huachinango, 5000 ft., Puebla.

_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Known only from Aserradero del Paraiso.

The only report from Tamaulipas of this small shrew is that of Goodwin (1954:3) who listed a cranium and mandible, possibly of the same individual, found on the floor of a cave. Goodwin referred the remains to _pueblensis_ because of the "noticeably broader and heavier rostrum than in ... _C. parva berlandieri_ from Rancho Tigre."

=Cryptotis mexicana madrea= Goodwin

Mexican Small-eared Shrew

1954. _Cryptotis mexicana madrea_ Goodwin, Amer. Mus.