at hand. The two females from Albuquerque, although typically
_neomexicana_ as regards color, have smaller, less prominently ridged
skulls than females of _neomexicana_ of the same age from farther south
and approach _M. f. nevadensis_.
Probably the geographic ranges of _M. f. neomexicana_ and _M. f.
latirostra_ do not meet; the only evidence of the existence of weasels
in all of the large area, comprising western Arizona and the deserts of
eastern California, which intervenes between the ranges of the two
subspecies is the skull of a young individual, no. 68842, Mus. Vert.
Zoöl., from 10 miles northeast of Bard, Imperial County, California.
There, on December 29, 1932, Jack C. vonBloeker, Jr., retrieved the
weathered skull with some of the vertebrae attached, from the top of a
wood rat's nest beneath a mesquite tree near the west bank of the
Colorado River.
The idea that the carcass may have been washed down the river from far
upstream gains no support from a comparison of the specimen itself for
the tympanic bullae are larger than in _nevadensis_ and the skull is
larger than the largest males seen of _arizonensis_, the two upriver
races. On the basis of size the skull could be either a male of
_latirostra_ or a female of _neomexicana_. These two subspecies, like
_arizonensis_ and the skull in question, have much inflated bullae.
However, the immaturity of the specimen conceals any other diagnostic
cranial features, and prevents referring it certainly to either
_neomexicana_ or _latirostra_. In any event the specimen provides no
evidence of intergradation between the two forms last mentioned.
Speculating on its identity, I should say that it might be either an
intergrade between _arizonensis_ and _nevadensis_, from southern Utah
or northwestern Arizona, or a member of an unnamed race resident in the
lower part of the valley of the Colorado River.
Whereas _M. f. panamensis_ and _M. f. aureoventris_ are the
darkest-colored weasels and occur in regions of heavy rainfall, _M. f.
neomexicana_ is the lightest-colored American weasel and occurs in an
extremely arid region where the rainfall and humidity are slight.
According to Barber and Cockerell (1898:189) "The type specimen was
shot in the grass on the shore of Armstrong's Lake. . . ." Bailey
(1928:97) found the tracks of one of these animals "in the great pit at
the west entrance to" Carlsbad Cavern and supposes they "hunt the cave
walls for mice and other small game." Data on the label attached to no.
230973 states that the specimen was taken, two miles west of Willcox,
Arizona, in a prairie dog town.
Only two of the 23 skulls show evidence of infestation of the frontal
sinuses by parasites.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 28, arranged alphabetically
by states and from north to south by counties in each state.
Unless otherwise indicated specimens are in the United States
National Museum.
=Arizona.= _Graham County_: Safford, 1. _Cochise County_: 2 mi. W
Willcox, 1; Willcox, 1; 8000 ft., Chiricahua Mts., 1; 6000 ft.,
Pinery Canyon, Chiricahua Mts., 1[33]; Tombstone, 1; Sulphur
Spring Valley, 1[74].
=Durango.= "Durango City," 1.
=Kansas.= _Seward County_: Liberal, 1[93].
=New Mexico.= _Bernalillo County_: 3 mi. NW Albuquerque, 2.
_Lincoln County_: 7800 ft., South Fork Eagle Creek, White Mts., 1.
_Chaves County_: Pecos River, 10 mi. E Roswell, 8[74]; Dexter,
1[74]. _Otero County_: Cloudcroft, 9000 ft., 1[90]. _Dona Ana
County_: Mesilla Park, 2 (1[75], 1[7]); Berino, 2.
=Texas.= _Culberson County_: 1-1/2 mi. NW Kent, 1[90]. _Terrel
County_: Lozier, 1.
=Mustela frenata texensis= Hall
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates 22, 23 and 24
_Mustela frenata texensis_ Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ.
473:99, November 20, 1936.
_Mustela frenata_, Strecker, The Baylor Bull., 27:14, September,
1924.
_Mustela frenata frenata_, Strecker, The Baylor Bull., 27:12,
August, 1926 (part).
_Type._--Male, adult, skull with skin of head, neck and tail; no.
14821, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Kerr County, Texas; September 17,
1897; obtained by H. P. Attwater.
The skull (plates 22-24) and dentition are complete and unbroken.
The preserved parts of the skin are not stuffed.
_Range._--Lower Sonoran and possibly Upper Sonoran life-zones of
central Texas. See figure 29 on page 221.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _Mustela frenata
arthuri_ in possessing white facial markings and postorbital
breadth less than distance between posterior borders of P4 and P2;
from _M. f. frenata_ in larger size of body and skull, the basilar
length of which in adult males is more than 52.5; from _M. f.
neomexicana_ in Brussels Brown rather than Buckthorn Brown color
of upper parts and basilar length of skull more than 52.5.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: Measurements taken from the dried
skins of a young male, no. 15476, Mus. Comp. Zoöl., from Kerr
County, Texas, and a subadult male, no. 2017, Baylor Univ. Mus.,
from 5 mi. N Waco, Texas, are, respectively, as follows: Total
length, 600 and more than 510; length of tail, 200 and 225; length
of hind foot, 52 and 52.
Female: Skins unknown.
_Externals._--As described in _Mustela frenata frenata_.
_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata frenata_.
_Skull and teeth._--Adult male: See measurements and plates 22-24.
As described in _Mustela frenata frenata_ except that: Weight, 8
grams; basilar length 54; least width of palate less than length
of P4; anterior margin of masseteric fossa anterior to middle of
m2.
Female: Skull unknown.
_Remarks._--The type specimen, taken by the veteran collector of Texan
mammals, H. P. Attwater, appears to have been the first one of these
animals to find its way into the collection of any museum or
naturalist. The second specimen from Kerr County was secured by, or
through, the well-known commercial collector, F. B. Armstrong. Two
trade skins, from Kerr County, taken on December 10, 1938, are in the
Texas Cooperative Research Collection, as is also the skeleton of a
young animal from Fredericksburg. The two other specimens from McLennan
County (both males contrary to the statement of Strecker, 1924:14), owe
their preservation to the alertness of John K. Strecker, Curator of the
Baylor University Museum, who has given a complete account of their
history.
The range of this subspecies is thought to include much of central
Texas.
The preserved parts of the skin of the type specimen show it to have
been generally large. The part of the tail preserved measures 226
millimeters and the skin of the head and neck is correspondingly large.
The skin alone, no. 427, from near Waco, Texas, has, as now stuffed, a
body 365 millimeters long. Individuals of this race attain larger size
than those of any other American member of the subgenus _Mustela_ with
the possible exception of _Mustela frenata macrophonius_ from Veracruz,
México. In addition to large size, _texensis_ and _macrophonius_ are
analogous in that each has a small geographic range at the northern end
of an extensive range of its similarly colored southern relative from
which it differs mainly in size. Each of the two groups, _goldmani_ and
_macrophonius_ on the one hand and _perotae_, _frenata_ and _texensis_
on the other, has relatively uniform color, color pattern and body
proportions over a large region but at its northern extremity develops
a "giant" population, _M. f. macrophonius_ and _M. f. texensis_,
respectively. The skull of the type specimen of _M. f. texensis_ is the
largest one seen of any American weasel. The type specimen of _M. f.
macrophonius_ has a basilar length that is greater by one-tenth of a
millimeter but in every other measurement taken the skull of _M. f.
texensis_ is the larger. Its weight, 8 grams, also shows it to be
larger.
The broad, white bands in front of the ears are confluent with the
white patch between the eyes on both sides in two specimens and on one
side only in one other specimen. A white patch between the ears is
present in four specimens. The dark spot at each angle of the mouth is
absent on both sides in four specimens and on one side only in one
other specimen. Thus out of a possible twelve cases, the broad bands in
front of the ears are confluent with the spot between the eyes in five
cases. Four of the six specimens have a white spot between the ears.
The dark spot at each angle of the mouth is present three out of a
possible twelve times.
The skull of no. 2017, from five miles north of Waco, is smaller than
either of the two skulls seen from Kerr County and in this respect
approaches _M. f. frenata_. There is no actual evidence of
intergradation with any other subspecies but intergradation probably
does take place with _M. f. neomexicana_ and possibly with _M. f.
arthuri_ and _M. f. primulina_.
Strecker (1924:14) remarks that of the two specimens obtained near
Waco, one was taken in a trap baited for mink and the other was shot in
a hen house. None of the four skulls had the frontal sinuses infested
with parasites.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 7, arranged by counties from
north to south.
=Texas.= _McLennan County_: 5 mi. N Waco, 1[3]; Erath, 1[3].
_Gillespie County_: Fredericksburg, 1[90]. _Kerr County_: 4[75];
1[2]; and 2[90] trade skins.
=Mustela frenata frenata= Lichtenstein
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates 1, 22, 23, 24, 36, 37, 38 and 40
_Mustela frenata_ Lichtenstein, Darstellung neuer oder wenig
bekannter Säugethier, 1832, pl. 42, and corresponding text,
unpaged; Seton, Lives of game animals, 2:576, 1929.
_Mustela brasiliensis_ Sevastianoff, Mem. de l'Acad. Imp. Sci. St.
Petersburg, 4:356-363, tab. 4, 1813, name on plate only, the
description being in the text (not of Gmelin, 1788); Gray, Proc.
Zoöl. Soc. London, 1865:114.
_Putorius frenatus_, Baird Mamms. N. Amer., p. 173, 1858; Merriam,
N. Amer. Fauna, 11:26, pl. 3, figs. 1, 1a, 1b, June 30, 1896;
Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 25:198, October 24, 1905.
_Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis aequatorialis_ Coues, Fur-bearing
animals, p. 142, 1877, part? ("merely as a substitute for Gray's
[supposedly] preoccupied name" that is, _aureoventris_).
_Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis frenatus_, Coues, Fur-bearing
animals, p. 142, 1877 (part).
_Putorius mexicanus_ Coues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 142, 1877,
[_nomen nudum_, cited by Coues in synonymy as "_Putorius
mexicanus_, Berlandier, MSS. ic. ined. 4 (Tamaulipas and
Matamoros)"].
_Putorius brasiliensis frenata_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 3:219, April 17, 1891.
_Putorius brasiliensis frenatus_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 6:197, May 31, 1894; Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
10:9, February 25, 1896; Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
8:74, April 22, 1896.
_Mustela frenata frenata_, Strecker, The Baylor Bull., 27:12,
August, 1926; Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:108,
November 20, 1936.
_Type._--Female, adult, skull and skin; no. 991, Berlin Zool.
Mus., México City, México; June, 1829; obtained by F. Deppe.
The specimen once mounted, now is remade into a study skin and
lacks the distal part of the tail. The skull (plates 36-38, 40)
lacks the basicranial region.
_Range._--Altitudinally, sea level (Brownsville, Texas) to 7600
feet (Tlalpam, México); from southern Texas as far south as México
City; Lower Sonoran to at least Transition life-zone. See figure
29 on page 221.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f. perotae_
in nonextension of blackish over anterior fourth of neck, least
width of color of underparts more than 37 per cent of greatest
width of color of upper parts; height of tympanic bulla more than
distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; from _M. f.
leucoparia_ by restricted white facial markings that cover less
than half surface of head in front of ears, by nonextension of
black of head onto anterior half of neck and by wider (more than
7.8) tympanic bullae; from _M. f. neomexicana_ by Brussels Brown
rather than Buckthorn Brown color of upper parts and mastoid
breadth less than postpalatal length; from _M. f. texensis_ by
smaller size of body and skull (basilar length in adult males less
than 52.5); from _M. f. arthuri_ by white facial markings and
postorbital breadth less than distance between posterior borders
of P4 and P2; from _M. f. tropicalis_ by nonextension of blackish
over anterior fourth of neck, least width of underparts more than
37 per cent of greatest width of upper parts, postorbital breadth
of adult males less than distance between posterior borders of P4
and P2.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: Fifteen adults and subadults from
Brownsville, Texas, yield average and extreme measurements as
follows: Total length, 485 (430-556); length of tail, 202
(165-250); length of hind foot, 48 (40-55). Averages believed to
be reliable but extremes probably are not. Tail averages 71 per
cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot less than basal
length. Corresponding measurements of an adult male (topotype, no.
50826) from Tlalpam, México, are: 505, 203, 53. Another adult
male, from Miquihuana, Tamaulipas, México, measures: 520, 215, 52.
Female: Six adults, subadults and young from Brownsville, Texas,
yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length,
420 (362-456); length of tail, 173 (126-200); length of hind foot,
41 (40-46). Tail averages 70 per cent as long as head and body.
Length of hind foot more (with possible exception of no.
36362/48732 U. S. Nat. Mus.) than basal length.
The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes
are: Total length, 65; length of tail, 29; length of hind foot, 7.
_Externals._--Longest facial vibrissae black and reaching beyond
ear; carpal vibrissae same color as underparts and extending to
apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot-soles as shown in
figure 20.
_Color._--Spot between eyes, broad band, confluent with color of
underparts, on each side of head extending anterodorsally anterior
to each ear, and posterior two-thirds to one-half of each upper
lip, white; remainder of sides and top of head, posteriorly to
line connecting posterior margins of ears, blackish; dark spot
posterior to angle of mouth present on both sides in about half
the specimens; tip of tail black; remainder of upper parts
Brussels Brown; chin white; remainder of underparts near (16´_a_)
Ochraceous-Buff (same color in juveniles and young), which color
extends distally on posterior sides of forelegs over forefeet and
on medial sides of hind legs to feet and sometimes onto upper
sides of toes. Least width of color of underparts averaging, in a
series of seventeen males from Brownsville, Texas, 47 (extremes
38-53) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black
tip of tail, in same series, averaging 49 (extremes 40-55) mm.
long, thus about equal to length of hind foot and averaging 24 per
cent of length of tail-vertebrae.
_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on ten adults from Brownsville):
See measurements and plates 22-24; weight (three adults, one
topotype and two from Brownsville, Texas), 6.2 (5.3-7.2) grams;
basilar length, 49.8 (48.2-51.3); zygomatic breadth more than
distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior
palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoidal
breadth less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth less
than length of upper premolars (less than distance between
posterior borders of P4 and P2) and not greater (usually less)
than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one
foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth
not greater than distance between foramen opticum and anterior
margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum less than length of
tympanic bulla; least width of palate more or less than length of
P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen
ovale as width of 3 or 4 (including I3) upper incisors; height of
tympanic bulla more than distance from its anterior margin to
foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower
molar and premolar tooth-row and longer or shorter (usually
longer) than rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa just
behind m2.
Female (based on two adults from Brownsville, Texas): See
measurements and plates 36-38, 40; weight, 3.4 (3.3-3.5) grams;
basilar length (six, adult to young) 43.3 (41.3-47.3); zygomatic
breadth more or less than distance between condylar foramen and M1
and more than distance between anterior palatine foramen and
anterior margin of tympanic bulla; postorbital breadth less than
length of upper premolars and more or less than (about equal to)
width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen
lacerum posterior to its opposite; least width of palate less than
outside length of P4; tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen
ovale as width of 2 to 3-1/2 (including I3) upper incisors; height
of tympanic bulla more than distance from its anterior margin to
foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower
molar and premolar tooth-row and longer or shorter than rostrum.
The skull of the female averages 45 per cent lighter than that of
the average male.
Comparison of the skull with those of _M. f. arthuri_, _tropicalis_,
_perotae_, _leucoparia_ and _neomexicana_ has been made in accounts of
those subspecies. As compared with _M. f. texensis_ (known only from
males), the only difference detected is smaller size.
_Remarks._--As Merriam (1896:27) has said: "In 1813 a Russian
naturalist, Sevastianoff, gave the name '_Mustela brasiliensis_' to a
weasel brought to St. Petersburg by Capt. A. J. Krusenstern on his
return from a voyage around the world. The animal was said to have come
from Brazil, but no definite locality was given." This name was long
applied by many European naturalists to American weasels which had
white facial markings, and several American naturalists adopted the
name. However, Lichtenstein in 1832 applied the name _Mustela frenata_
to the weasels of the vicinity of México City and that name was used
for bridled weasels from México and the southwestern United States by
most subsequent German writers and by several Americans. In 1896
Merriam (1896:27) showed that Sevastianoff's _Mustela brasiliensis_,
1813, although probably the same as _Mustela frenata_, was preoccupied
by Gmelin's _Mustela brasiliensis_, 1788, applied to an otter and that
Lichtenstein's name must be used as the next available one. Since that
time, 1896, _frenata_ has been the name applied to the large
bridled-weasels of Texas and the high table land of México south to
México City. It may be added that in 1937 search by the writer among
the specimens and records at the Russian Academy of Sciences, in
Leningrad, failed to reveal any trace of the type specimen of
Sevastianoff's _Mustela brasiliensis_.
The geographic range of this subspecies is relatively large and, as
might therefore be expected, specimens show geographic variation. The
specimens from Tlalpam, which Merriam (_op. cit._:27) regards as
topotypes, differ in certain respects from specimens from Texas. The
skull of the adult male "topotype," no. 50826, differs from any other
adult male seen in that the basilar length, the length of the upper
tooth-rows, the orbitonasal length, the ratio of the same to the
basilar length, the mastoidal breadth, the zygomatic breadth, the depth
of the skull at the posterior margins of the upper molars, and the
length and breadth of M1, are greater. The height of the tympanic
bullae is less than the average height for these structures in more
northern specimens. The specimens from Tlalpam have also larger
external measurements than the average of more northern specimens. All
of these features show an approach to the subspecies of more southern
distribution. On the other hand, the blackish of the head is not more
intense or more extended posteriorly onto the neck than in specimens
from Brownsville, Texas. The skin, with skull crushed, no. 767, in the
Paris Museum, from 3200 meters elevation near Toluca, does have the
black color of the head extended 30 millimeters posteriorly to the
ears. In this feature, and also in the extensively white face on which
the white bar in front of each ear connects with the frontal spot, as
well as with the color of the underparts, the specimen resembles
_leucoparia_. Better material from the western part of the state of
México may show the range of _leucoparia_ to extend eastward almost or
quite to Toluca.
An adult male, taken on July 15 at Miquihuana, Tamaulipas, is unique in
several respects. The top of its head is black, rather than blackish,
and this color extends posteriorly on the top and sides of the neck
almost halfway to the shoulders. All of the upper parts are much more
darkly colored than in other specimens of this race. The least width of
the color of the underparts is 63 per cent of the greatest width of the
color of the upper parts; thus the color of the underparts is
considerably more extensive than in any other specimen seen. The
underparts are more intensely colored than in the average specimen. The
mastoidal breadth is greater than in any other adult male and amounts
to more than the postpalatal length. On available maps the elevation of
Miquihuana is given as 1892 meters (about 6200 feet). Thus the dark
colors can hardly be ascribed to more tropical conditions than those
under which animals from Brownsville, Texas, live. Brownsville is only
a few feet above sea level and only 235 miles farther north. The
difference noted, therefore, seems to be of geographic significance.
However, there is from Alvarez, San Luis Potosí, approximately 115
miles south of Miquihuana, a young (nearly subadult) female, no. 21968,
which is as light colored as specimens from Brownsville, Texas, or
Tlalpam, México. The only distinctive feature of this specimen is the
much greater extent of its white facial markings; they are more
extensive even than in the specimen from Miquihuana.
Finally, the series from Brownsville, Texas, indicates that the animal
there is smaller than _frenata_ from the vicinity of México (city). The
skull is similarly proportioned except that relative to the basilar
length the orbitonasal length is more. Several other measurements of
the skull of the adult male from Tlalpam, as pointed out above, are
actually, although not relatively, greater than in any specimen from
Brownsville. The similarities between specimens from the two
localities, Tlalpam and Brownsville, are striking; since the two
localities lie at opposite, extreme ends of the range more geographic
variation would be expected. All that is known of the characters of
populations from intermediate localities is that the one specimen from
Alvarez shows no peculiarities whereas the one from Miquihuana suggests
the existence there of a geographic variant.
None of the specimens seen shows actual intergradation with _M. f.
neomexicana_ or with _M. f. arthuri_ but it is supposed that frenata
intergrades with each of these subspecies. The difference between
_frenata_ and _arthuri_ is greater than between _frenata_ and
_neomexicana_. Bailey (1905:198) records tracks of a weasel seen just
below El Paso which he supposed had been made by a weasel of the
_neomexicana_ type. He also cited the taking of a weasel at Langtry
which suggested to him (_op. cit._) ". . . a continuous range from the
country of _frenatus_ up the Rio Grande to the type locality of
_neomexicanus_ at Mesilla Valley," New Mexico. Other records of
occurrence in Texas cited by Bailey, in addition to those provided by
specimens examined by the writer, are San Diego, Beeville, and Port
Lavaca. The Port Lavaca record is the easternmost one assigned to the
subspecies _frenata_; possibly specimens from there would be referable
to _arthuri_.