From Tamaulipas, the northeasternmost state in the Mexican Republic,
146 kinds of mammals, belonging to 72 genera, are here reported.
Mammals that are strictly marine in habit are not included. The state
is crossed in its middle by the Tropic of Cancer. Elevations vary from
sea level on the Golfo de Mexico to more than 2700 meters in the Sierra
Madre Oriental; most of the state is below 300 meters in elevation. Its
area is 79,602 square kilometers (30,732 square miles).
Tamaulipas, meaning "lugar en que hay montes altos" (place of high
mountains), was explored in 1516 by the Spaniard Francisco Fernandez de
Cordoba, but it was not until the 18th century that Jose de Escandon
established several villages in the new province of Nueva Santender
from which, in the time of Iturbide's Empire, Tamaulipas was separated
as a distinct political entity, with about the same boundaries that it
now has.
My first contact with the state of Tamaulipas, as a mammalogist, was in
1957, when in company with Dr. Bernardo Villa R. I visited the Cueva
del Abra in the southern part of the state. On several occasions since
then I have been in the state, especially when employed by the
Direccion General de Caza of the Mexican Government. In 1960-1962 I had
the opportunity of studying the mammalian fauna of Tamaulipas at the
Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansas. The
approximately 2000 specimens there represent many critical localities,
but are not sufficient to make this report as complete as could be
desired. Consequently the following account should be considered as a
contribution to the knowledge of the mammals of Mexico and is offered
in the hope that it will stimulate future studies of the Mexican fauna,
especially that of the eastern region.