Forming the northeastern border of Mexico, Tamaulipas extends in an
elongated, north-south direction from the Temperate into the Torrid
Zone and contains faunal elements from both the Nearctic and
Neotropical regions. The mammals are less known than those from some of
the bordering states; for the most part collecting has been limited to
a few localities, chiefly along the Pan-American Highway. Accordingly,
as a step towards a long-range study of the mammals of Tamaulipas, the
Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansas acquired from
William J. Schaldach, Jr., a small, but significant, collection of
mammals taken in the last month of 1949 and the first four months of
1950.
Collections were made at several places in the vicinity of Ciudad
Victoria, including localities along the humid, eastern face of the
Sierra Madre Oriental. Many of these specimens were obtained near camps
made west of the village of El Carrizo. This small community is on the
Pan-American highway, 70 kilometers (by highway) south of Ciudad
Victoria. The resulting collections, which are reported upon here,
disclose that several tropical mammals range farther northward than
previously reported. Funds for financing the field work were made
available by a grant from the Kansas University Endowment Association.