An Annotated Check List of the Mammals of Michoacan, Mexico Part 5

_Range._--Probably most of state.

_Remarks._--On March 27 or 28, 1943, in Morelia, at a gasoline filling station, one of us (Hall) saw a freshly killed coyote tied on the b.u.mper of the automobile of a Medical Doctor. In response to inquiry about the animal the Doctor said that he killed it some 15 miles northeast of town.

=Lynx rufus escuinapae= Allen

Bobcat; Spanish, Gato del Monte; Tarascan, Misicpapu (misicpapu)

_Lynx ruffus escuinapae_ Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 19:614, November 14, 1903, type from Escuinapa, Sinaloa.

_Range._--Probably all of state above the Tropical Life-zone.

_Specimen examined_, 1: no. 47818 (U. S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Surv.

Coll.), Patzcuaro.

_Remarks._--The skull of the male from Patzcuaro agrees well with those of topotypes of _L. r. escuinapae_ even to the elongate tympanic bullae. Because of their elongation the bullae resemble, in some degree, those of the ocelot. Natives told us that the gato del monte was resident around Patzcuaro. Four miles south of Patzcuaro in a cornfield at the edge of an area grown up to oak trees and brush, tracks were seen that our Indian companion identified as those of the gato del monte.

=Citellus variegatus variegatus= (Erxleben)

Rock Squirrel; Spanish, Ardilla de Pedregal; Tarascan, Kuaraki (Kuaraki)

_[Sciurus] variegatus_ Erxleben, Syst. Regni, Anim., 1:421, 1777; type locality fixed as Valley of Mexico near the city of Mexico, by Nelson, Science, N. S., 8:898, December 23, 1898.

_[Citellus] variegatus_, Elliot, Field Columb. Mus. Pub., zool. ser. 4:148, 1904.

_Range._--Probably in all semi-arid, rocky habitats of the state.

_Specimens examined_, 11: nos. 100128-100135; 51385-51387, distributed by localities as follows: 1 mi. N Zamora, 5,450 ft., 1; 3 mi. NW Patzcuaro, 6,700 ft., 5; 4 mi. S Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 1; 1-1/2 mi. S Tacambaro, 5,700 ft., 1; Mount Tancitaro, 1; Pedregal, Tancitaro, 1; Tancitaro, 1.

_Remarks._--Rock squirrels were seen along rock fences, around Patzcuaro, where they are fairly common. On July 17 and 18, 1947, at San Juan Parangaricutiro, one of us (Villa) saw these squirrels running over the newly formed lava bed which was still emitting vapors and which in places (between boulders) was emitting heat detectable by the collectors. This is only additional evidence of the animal's strong predilection for rocks, boulders and cliffs, which has earned for it, in parts of the western United States, the vernacular name "rock squirrel" and in Mexico "_Ardilla de Pedregal_."

Howell (1938:138) reported specimens from the following localities: Acambaro, 1; Los Reyes, 1; Mount Tancitaro, 2; Patzcuaro, 12; Querendaro, 1; Zamora, 2.

=Citellus adocetus adocetus= Merriam

Lesser Tropical Ground Squirrel; Spanish, Cuiniqui; Tarascan, Kuaraki (Kuaraki)

_Citellus adocetus_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Was.h.i.+ngton, 16:79, May 29, 1903, type from La Salada, 40 miles south of Uruapan, Michoacan.

_Range._--Southern part of state in arid tropical land.

_Specimens examined_, 4: nos. 52000, 52001, 51388, 51389, distributed by localities as follows: "Near Tancitaro," 2; Acahuato, 1; Apatzingan, 1,040 ft., 1.

_Remarks._--Ground squirrels of this species are fairly abundant in the arid tropical parts of the state. Their burrows are usually found on stony areas along small ravines or under mesquite (_Prosopis juliflora_) thickets. The name cuiniqui in use by the Spanish speaking population is merely a corruption of the Tarascan name. Cuiniqui, therefore, is a particular kind of _ardilla terricola_ (ground squirrel).

=Sciurus poliopus nemoralis= Nelson

Michoacan Squirrel; Spanish, Ardilla arboricola; Tarascan, Uakui (Wakqe)

_Sciurus albipes nemoralis_ Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc, Was.h.i.+ngton, 12:151, June 3, 1898, type from Patzcuaro, Michoacan.

_Sciurus poliopus nemoralis_ Nelson, Proc. Was.h.i.+ngton Acad.

Sci., 1:50, May 9, 1899.

_Range._--Pine and oak forests of most of state.

_Specimens examined_, 3: nos. 2102 and 2103 Louisiana State University from 20 mi. E Morelia, 7,300 ft., and no. 1369 B. Villa R. from 1-1/2 km. N San Juan 2,250 meters.

_Remarks._--Tree squirrels of this kind have been reported by Nelson (1899:51) from Patzcuaro and Nahuatzin.

The young specimen, no. 2102, [M], has the tail slender, resembling somewhat that of the _S. p. senex_ from the southward. The underparts of the female are Warm Buff, more clearly so on the underside of the legs.

=Sciurus poliopus senex= Nelson

Michoacan Squirrel; Spanish, Ardilla Arboricola; Tarascan, Uakui (Wakqe)

_Sciurus poliopus senex_ Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Was.h.i.+ngton, 17:148, October 6, 1904, type from La Salada, 40 mi. S Uruapan.

_Range._--Lowlands in southern part of state.

_Specimens examined_, 3: nos. 52004, 52014, 52015, distributed by localities as follows: Tancitaro, 6,000 ft., 1; Apatzingan, 1,040 ft., 2.

_Remarks._--Specimen number 52014, [M], represents the melanistic phase of this subspecies.

The upper parts of the hind legs in this specimen are slightly grizzled. The upper side of the tail is vermiculated with whitish and the underside of the tail is black.

=Th.o.m.omys umbrinus pullus= Hall and Villa

Southern Pocket Gopher; Spanish, Tuza Serrana; Tarascan, c.u.mu (Como)

_Th.o.m.omys umbrinus pullus_ Hall and Villa, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 1:251, July 26, 1948, type from 5 miles south Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., Michoacan.

_Range._--Known only from pine-covered rolling land three to five miles south of Patzcuaro.

_Specimens examined_, 17: nos. 100136-100152, distributed by localities as follows: 3 mi. S Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 1; 4 mi. S Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 10; 5 mi. S Patzcuaro, 7,800 ft., 6.

_Remarks._--Most of these pocket gophers were caught in areas supporting a good growth of pine trees in the same places where the much larger pocket gopher, _Cratogeomys gymnurus_, lived. Concerning the individual designated as the type specimen, H. H. Hall (field notes) writes that when he was making an excavation to reveal the gopher's burrow (5 inches below the surface), he dug deeper than was necessary and broke into the burrow of a _Cratogeomys_ directly below.

Another of us (E. R. Hall) had the same experience where the burrow of a _Th.o.m.omys_ was approximately six inches below ground and that of a _Cratogeomys_ approximately 16 inches below the surface of the ground.

At the time this arrangement led us to wonder if _Th.o.m.omys_ was in some sense a "parasite" on the larger _Cratogeomys_ by levying on food stores, if _Cratogeomys_ has any, but we found no evidence that such was the case and from our subsequent trapping concluded that the two-story arrangement was accidental and not the rule. The habit of burrowing at different levels probably was one factor which permitted the two kinds of pocket gophers to live in the same area. The average weight of these gophers was 86 grams in males and 74 grams in females, or only an eighth as much as in _Cratogeomys_.

=Cratogeomys gymnurus imparilis= (Goldman)