1894. _Bassariscus astutus flavus_ Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Nat.
Sci. Philadelphia, 45:417, January 30, type from Texas,
exact locality unknown.
_Distribution in Tamaulipas._--Western half of state.
The two specimens examined provide the second record of this species in
Tamaulipas; they were shot in the bottom of an arid canyon. One animal
was about 30 feet up from the ground in an oak tree, and the other was
along a small arroyo containing pools of water.
From Rhoads' paper (1893:416-417) on the genus _Bassariscus_ it would
seem that _B. astutus flavus_ differs from _B. a. astutus_ in smaller
size, especially of the skull, shorter tail (shorter than head and body
in _flavus_ and longer than head and body in _astutus_) and the
presence of fulvous color. Comparison of 10 specimens of _B. a. flavus_
from Coahuila and Texas with two of _B. a. astutus_ (Distrito Federal,
1; Las Vigas, Veracruz, 1) from central Mexico reveals that the skulls
do not differ qualitatively and that the skull of _flavus_ tends to be
smaller and relatively wider, but that there is overlap in size. In all
_flavus_ that I measured and in the two adults of _astutus_ the tail is
shorter than the head and body. The only real difference is the color;
ringtails from Texas are deep fulvous instead of grayish as is
_astutus_ from the Distrito Federal and Veracruz. But the specimen from
Veracruz has much fulvous and on the other hand specimens from Coahuila
are more grayish than those from Texas.
The two specimens from Tamaulipas can be assigned to either subspecies
_astutus_ or _flavus_ with almost equal propriety. Here they are
referred to _B. a. flavus_ on the basis of their relatively small
skull, short tail, and presence of some fulvous color.
_Measurements._--Measurements of female and male (60239,
60240), both adult, from Joya Verde, are, respectively: 745,
760; 370, 385; 70, 75; 47, 56; greatest length of skull
(excluding incisors), 81.9, 83.1; zygomatic breadth, 46.1,
51.9; interorbital constriction, 16.3, 16.3; postorbital
constriction, 19.5, 18.5; breadth of braincase, 33.7, 36.6;
length of maxillary tooth-row, 31.5, 32.0; breadth across
postorbital processes (tip to tip), 25.3, 26.8.
_Records of occurrence._--Two specimens examined from Joya
Verde, 35 km. SW Victoria, 3800 ft.
Additional record: Joya de Salas (Goodwin, 1954:14).
=Procyon lotor=