topotype [?] and one subadult from San Rafel del Norte): See
measurements and plates 25-27, 30. As described in _Mustela
frenata perda_ except that: Weight, 4.2 grams (estimated for
adults); basilar length 45.0 (44.8-45.5); interorbital breadth
more or less than distance between foramen opticum and anterior
margin of tympanic bulla; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far
posterior to foramen ovale as width of four to five upper
incisors; length of tympanic bulla not less than length of lower
molar and premolar tooth-row; anterior margin of masseteric fossa
below anterior margin of m2 or posterior to that tooth.
Female: Skull unknown.
Comparison of the skull of the male with that of _M. f. costaricensis_
is made in the account of that subspecies. As compared with that of _M.
f. perda_, which it most closely resembles, the skull of the male has a
narrower, shorter rostrum, lesser interorbital breadth, lesser mastoid
and zygomatic breadths and slightly shallower braincase, measured at
anterior margin of basioccipital. The tympanic bullae are slightly less
projected, at their anterior margins, from the braincase and the
squamosal, directly anterior to each, is a little more convex
ventrally. The skull of _M. f. nicaraguae_ is, then, slightly shorter
than that of _M. f. perda_ and relatively narrower.
_Remarks._--When naming this form, Allen (1916:100) characterized it as
"Similar to _M. tropicalis tropicalis_ but general coloration much
darker and the white face markings somewhat reduced in area." In the
sentence preceding the one quoted, _Putorius tropicalis perdus_ was
placed as a synonym of _Putorius tropicalis tropicalis_. _M. f.
nicaraguae_ and _M. f. perda_ are nearly alike in color and color
pattern but differ in cranial characters. _M. f. perda_ and _M. f.
tropicalis_ are widely different in color and more especially in color
pattern but differ only slightly in cranial characters. The aggregate
difference between _perda_ and _nicaraguae_ is less than that between
_perda_ and _tropicalis_. All three are lowland forms and each is
smaller than the adjacent highland forms, namely, _M. f. goldmani_,
_macrophonius_, _perotae_ and _frenata_.
The weasels from Honduras definitely are not typical of _nicaraguae_ as
it is known from the specimens from Nicaragua itself. The specimens
from the state of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, are larger. Some are darker
than topotypical _nicaraguae_. The dorsal outline of the skull is more
nearly flat (less convex) in some. In these and several other
differential features studied, the average of specimens from
Tegucigalpa is intermediate toward _goldmani_, but everything
considered the animals seem best placed with _nicaraguae_ rather than
with _goldmani_ or _perda_, to which latter also, they show some
resemblance. With better material from Nicaragua and additional
specimens from Salvador (here referred to _goldmani_) a restudy of all
the material now referred to the three races named would be profitable.
Aims of this restudy might be to determine if a highland race
additional to _goldmani_ should be recognized and if the lowland races
_perda_ and _nicaraguae_ differ from one another in the way that the
existing specimens indicate.
In the five males from Matagalpa, the narrow white band in front of
each ear is confluent with the color of the underparts on one side only
in one specimen and on both sides in two specimens. None of these bands
is confluent with the white patch between the eyes. A dark spot at the
angle of the mouth is present on one side in one specimen. The
corresponding area is dark colored in all other specimens but not
separated from the color of the upper parts. In the specimen from San
Rafel del Norte the white bands are not confluent with the color of the
underparts. The female from Mambacho has the mentioned bands confluent
with the color of the underparts. This female approaches _M. f.
costaricensis_ in the dark color of the upper parts but has more
extensive white facial markings than some specimens from much farther
north. Like a female seen of _M. f. costaricensis_, this one has a
"frosted" nape but the white hairs on the back of the neck are less
numerous than in the female of _M. f. costaricensis_.
_M. f. nicaraguae_ in typical form, then, is thought of as a small,
lowland, tropical subspecies only slightly differentiated from _M. f.
perda_. By reason of its intermediate characters, it constitutes a link
between the lowland forms, and the larger animals called _M. f.
goldmani_ and _M. f. costaricensis_.
None of the four skulls from Nicaragua shows signs of infestation of
the frontal sinuses by parasites.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 16, listed by localities from
north to south. Specimens are in the American Museum of Natural
History, unless otherwise indicated.
=Honduras=: Alto Cantoral, 2; Cerro Grande La Paz, 1. La Flor
Archaga, 1[75]; Comayagüela, 1[75]; vicinity of Tegucigalpa, 2; no
locality more definite than Honduras, 1[4].
=Nicaragua=: San Rafel del Norte, 1; Matagalpa, 6; Ma[o]mbacho, 1.
=Mustela frenata costaricensis= Goldman
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30
_Mustela costaricensis_ Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 25:9,
January 23, 1912.
_Mustela brasiliensis_, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 14(ser.
4):374, 1874.
_Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis frenatus_, Coues, Fur-bearing
animals, p. 142, 1877 (part).
_Putorius affinis_, Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:31, June 30, 1896
(part).
_Mustela affinis costaricensis_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916; Lönnberg, Arkiv för Zool., 14(no.
4):16, 1921.
_Mustela frenata costaricensis_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington
Publ. 473:109, November 20, 1936.
_Type._--Male, young, skull and skin; no. 13770/37149, U. S. Nat.
Mus.; San José, Costa Rica; obtained by C. H. Van Patten.
The skull (plates 28-30) is complete and unbroken. All teeth are
present and unworn. The skin apparently has been remade. It lacks
the distal two-thirds of the tail. The head is somewhat shrunken.
The color is possibly faded but if so only to a slight degree.
Otherwise, the skin is in good condition. The orange color of the
underparts is so intense as to suggest that the full, adult pelage
has not been acquired. No white markings are present on the face.
There is no sex mark on the label attached to the skin but the
size and proportions of the skull and the scrotal pouch on the
skin prove that the specimen is a male. The presence of sutures on
the dorsal face of the rostrum and the short, wide, and low
sagittal crest show the specimen to be young.
_Range._--Costa Rica. Altitudinal and zonal range unknown. See
figure 29 on page 221.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f.
panamensis_ in lighter color of upper parts (tone 2 rather than
tone 4 of Reddish Black of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 344) and
longitudinally flat interorbital region of skull; from _M. f.
nicaraguae_ in darker color of upper parts (of Oberthür and
Dauthenay, tone 2 of pl. 344 rather than tone 4 of pl. 342) and
greater width (more than 7) of tympanic bulla.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: No collector's measurements
available of fully grown animals. Estimated measurements of adult
males: Total length, 470; length of tail, 165; length of hind foot
(taken from dried skins of 3 adults), 52 (50-52). Tail estimated
to average 55 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind
foot more or less than (about equal to) basal length.
_Female_: A subadult or adult, from the Candelaria Mountains, and
a subadult from Irazú, measure, respectively: Total length, 370,
385; length of tail, 130, 150; length of hind foot, 40, 31. Tail
59 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot probably
about equal to basal length.
The estimated differences in external measurements of the two
sexes are: Total length, 92; length of tail, 25; length of hind
foot, 16 (probably average difference is less).
_Externals._--As described in _M. f. panamensis_ (figure 21)
except that foot soles are slightly more hairy.
_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata panamensis_ except
that: back is near Reddish Black, tone 2 of Oberthür and
Dauthenay, pl. 344; chin, lips, and throat white or whitish;
remainder of underparts near (_c_) Ochraceous-Buff; color of
underparts rarely extending distally onto toes of forefeet. Least
width of color of underparts, in eleven specimens, averaging 23
(10-36) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts; black
tip of tail, in six specimens, averaging 36 (31-38) per cent of
length of tail-vertebrae.
_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on 2 adults, no. 3.2.1.6. from
vicinity of San José and no. 11408, U. S. Nat. Mus., from "Costa
Rica"): See measurements and plates 25-30; weight, 5.9 grams;
basilar length 49 +; zygomatic breadth more than distance between
condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen
and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid breadth less than
postpalatal length; postorbital breadth in undiseased skulls less
than length of upper premolars (less than distance between
posterior borders of P2 and P4) and less than width of
basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum
posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth more or less than
distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic
bulla; breadth of rostrum more or less (about equal to) length of
tympanic bulla; least width of palate less than length of P4;
anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen
ovale as width of 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla less
than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; tympanic
bulla longer or shorter than (about equal to) lower molar and
premolar tooth-row and longer or shorter than (about equal to)
rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa directly below
posterior border of m2.
Female: Skull of adult unknown.
Comparison of the skull of the male with that of _M. f. panamensis_ has
been made in the account of that subspecies. As compared with that of
_M. f. nicaraguae_ the skull of _M. f. costaricensis_ is heavier and in
every measurement taken is larger. The skull is generally more massive
and it follows that most measurements of depth and width are greater in
relation to the basilar length as well as actually greater. The
individual teeth are larger and the tympanic bullae wider and at their
anterior ends are more projected from the braincase. Indeed the skull
is more like that of _M. f. goldmani_ than like that of _M. f.
nicaraguae_.
_Remarks._--The half dozen ill-prepared skins, with partial skulls
inside, of this form in the United States National Museum long were
referred either to _Mustela brasiliensis_ or _Mustela affinis_. It was
not until 1912 when Goldman studied these specimens that the
distinctive characters of the Costa Rican weasel were recognized and
made the basis of the name _costaricensis_.
_M. f. costaricensis_ is well differentiated from _M. f. nicaraguae_
and _M. f. goldmani_ which occur to the northward and from _M. f.
panamensis_ which occurs to the southward and is a large,
heavy-skulled, dark-colored animal with white facial markings
restricted or absent. In the type specimen and the female from the
Candelaria Mountains the white facial markings are only narrow facial
bars or a few white hairs, but in the young male from Cervantes there
is a well developed bar 6 millimeters wide on each side of the face and
a separate nasofrontal spot, 10 x 12 mm. The young female from Cachí
has a V-shaped frontonasal spot, on the right side of the face a white
bar 5 mm. wide and 17 mm. long connected with the color of the
underparts, and on the left side a white spot in front of the ear and
another between the ear and eye. White facial markings were not
recorded in the other specimens. The color of the upper parts is only a
little less dark than those of _M. f. panamensis_. Owing to the
numerous white hairs on the dorsal side of the neck, the nape of the
female from the Candelaria Mountains has a frosted appearance not
present in other specimens.
_M. f. costaricensis_ is a large animal and among its geographic
neighbors is approached in size only by a specimen of _panamensis_ from
Boquete, Panamá. Also the young male from Cervantes suggests
_panamensis_ in the less flattened interorbital region, but even so is
more like _costaricensis_. The small size of two young males, one from
Navarro and the other from the vicinity of San José, is suggestive of
_M. f. nicaraguae_. However, the large size of most of the specimens
and the configuration of the skull are more as in _M. f. goldmani_ than
in _M. f. nicaraguae_ and thus suggest that the known specimens are of
high mountain subspecies. The long black tip of the tail is another
point of resemblance to _M. f. goldmani_, the high mountain subspecies
to the north. Perhaps in the lowlands of Costa Rica, there are weasels
of another subspecies.
Of the eight skulls examined for malformation of the frontal sinuses,
each of the two adults and two subadults shows signs of having the
frontal sinuses infested with parasites.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 14, listed by localities from
north to south.
=Costa Rica=: Irazú (Frasu or Irasu on label), 3000 M., 1[4];
Cervantes, 1[2]; San José, 1[91]; vicinity of San José, 2[7];
Azahar Cartago, 1[78]; Tucurrique, 1[7]; Cachí, 1[7]; El Muñco [=
Muñeco?] (Río Nivarro [= Navarro?]), 4000 ft., 10 mi. S Cartago,
Caribbean Slope, 1[76]; Navarro, 1[91]; Candelaria Mts., 1[75]; no
locality more definite than Costa Rica, 3[91].
=Mustela frenata panamensis= Hall
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates 1, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30
_Mustela frenata panamensis_ Hall, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
45:139, September 9, 1932; Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington
Publ. 473:109, November 20, 1936.
_Mustela brasiliensis_, Alston, Biol. Cent. Amer., Mammalia, p. 78,
1879.
_Putorius affinis_, Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 39:49, April,
1902; Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 28:143, July 10,
1914.
_Mustela affinis_, Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 25:10,
January 23, 1912; Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 28:143,
July 10, 1914.
_Mustela affinis costaricensis_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916; Goldman, Smithsonian Miscel. Col.,
69 (no. 5): 161, 1920.
_Type._--Female, subadult, skull and skin; no. 170970, U. S. Nat.
Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; Río Indio, Canal Zone, near Gatún,
Panamá; February 17, 1911; obtained by E. A. Goldman; original no.
20897.
The skull is complete and unbroken. The left lower incisor is
broken off but all the other teeth are present and entire. The
skin is well made and seems to be in faded, worn, first, adult
pelage.
_Range._--Sea level (type locality) to 5800 feet (Boquete, see
Bangs [1902:49]); Upper Tropical and Lower Tropical life-zones of
Panamá. See figure 29 on page 221.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from both _M. f.
meridana_ and _M. f. costaricensis_ in darker tone (tone 4 of
Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 344) of color of upper parts and in
convex dorsal outline of skull (Compare figures of mentioned
subspecies on plates 25-27).
_Description._--_Size._--Male: Two adults from Boquete in the
Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, nos. 10112 and 10113, measure,
respectively, as follows: Total length, 480 and 400; length of
tail, 170 and 143; length of hind foot, 52 and 43. Hind feet of
two other adult males measure 46 on dried skins. Tail, in two
specimens mentioned above, is 55 and 56 per cent as long as head
and body. Length of hind foot, in each of three adults, slightly
longer than basal length. Corresponding measurements of no. 178970
from Mt. Pirre are: 422, 164, 50. Tail 64 per cent (same per cent
as in young male, no. 137514 from Boquete) as long as head and
body, and hind foot longer than basal length.
Female: An adult and a young from Chiriquí, nos. 18434 and 18435
(Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia), measure, respectively: Total
length, 372, 389; length of tail, 138, 144; length of hind foot,
42, 41. The type specimen measures: Total length, 408; length of
tail, 159; length of hind foot, 46.5. Tail 64 per cent as long as
head and body, and hind foot longer than basal length.
The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes
from the vicinity of Boquete are: Total length, 59; length of
tail, 15; length of hind foot, 6.
_Externals._--Longest facial vibrissae black and extending beyond
posterior border of ear; carpal vibrissae wholly, or in part,
black and extending as far as hypothenar pad; hairiness of
foot-soles as shown in figure 21.
_Color._--Usually, posterior fourth of each upper lip and
sometimes few hairs in front of ear, white; sides and top of head
and neck posteriorly to, or behind, shoulders, black; dark areas
at angles of mouth confluent with color of upper parts; tip of
tail, black; remainder of upper parts near (_n_) Bay of Ridgway
and Reddish Black, tone 4, pl. 344 of Oberthür and Dauthenay; chin
and lips, whitish; remainder of underparts Warm Buff or near (16´
_c_) Ochraceous-Buff; near (12) Salmon-Orange in juveniles and
small young; color of underparts extending distally on posterior
sides of forelegs to wrists, but not to soles, and on hind legs to
or slightly below knees. Least width of color of underparts, in
seven specimens, averaging 18 (extremes 11-28) per cent of
greatest width of color of upper parts; black tip of tail, in five
adults and subadults, averaging 45 (extremes 41-50) per cent of
length of tail-vertebrae.
_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on three adults from Boquete): See
measurements and plates 25-30; weight, 5 (4.5-5.4) grams; basilar
length, 45.2 (42.8-48.3); zygomatic breadth more or less than
distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior
palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid
breadth less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth more
than length of upper premolars and more than width of
basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum
posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth not less than
distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic
bulla; breadth of rostrum approximately same (more or less than)
length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate less than length
of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to
foramen ovale as width of 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 upper incisors; height of
tympanic bulla less than distance from its anterior margin to
foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more or slightly less than
(approximately equal to) length of lower molar and premolar
tooth-row or length of rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric
fossa directly below posterior fourth of m2.
Female (based on subadult, type specimen and one adult from
Siola): See measurements; weight, 3.3 and 2.1 grams; basilar
length, 41.3 and 39.3; zygomatic breadth more than distance
between condylar foramen and M1 and more or less than (about equal
to) that between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of
tympanic bulla; postorbital breadth more than combined length of
upper premolars or than width of basioccipital measured from
medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite;
least width of palate more than length of P4 (less in the adult);
anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen
ovale as width of five upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla
less than (about half) distance from its anterior margin to
foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla less than length of lower
molar and premolar tooth-row or than rostrum.
The skull of the one adult female from Chiriquí is 58 per cent lighter
than the average of the two adult males.
The skull of the male of _M. f. panamensis_ as compared with that of
_M. f. meridana_, is heavier and averages larger in nearly every
measurement taken. Relative to basilar length, tooth-rows, orbitonasal
length, interorbital breadth and zygomatic breadth averaging narrower.
Mastoid breadth always narrower. Tympanic bullae longer, narrower, and
usually slightly less protruded. P4 and m1 larger. Dorsal outline of
skull, viewed laterally, more convex. Postorbital breadth actually and
relatively greater. Postorbital processes, mastoid processes, and
sagittal crest not so well developed. Differences between skulls of
females, in so far as known, similar to those described between males.
As compared with _M. f. costaricensis_, _M. f. panamensis_ has a
lighter skull averaging smaller in every measurement taken except
interorbital breadth, which is greater. Relative to basilar length,
width of rostrum, interorbital breadth and depth of skull at plane of
upper molars, less. Tympanic bullae shorter, narrower, less protruded.
P4, M1, and m1 larger. Dorsal outline of skull, viewed laterally, more
convex. Postorbital breadth relatively and actually greater.
Postorbital processes, mastoid processes, sagittal crest and lambdoidal
crest less developed. No skull of an adult female of _M. f.
costaricensis_ is available for comparison.
_Remarks._--This subspecies had not been recognized by previous workers
because specimens from Panamá were supposed to be _Mustela affinis_
Gray up until 1916, when Allen (1916:100) restricted the type locality
of _M. affinis_ to Bogotá, Colombia. At that time Allen referred
specimens from Panamá to _Mustela affinis costaricensis_, and Goldman
(1920:161) followed Allen.
The specimens examined show much variation. Part of this is geographic
variation. For instance the specimens from Boquete approach _M. f.
costaricensis_ in size more than do those from farther south. Too few
adult females have been seen to ascertain the amount of secondary
sexual variation. Bangs (1902:49) suggested that the sex of no. 10113
was wrongly recorded and that it was not really a male. If so, this
would reduce the range of apparent variation in size of males from
Boquete by half and bring it into accord with the amount normally
existing in adult males from one locality. No. 10113 is adult but the
skin shows no mammae which would prove it to be a female instead of a
pigmy male. Although even smaller than 10113, the type specimen is so
much larger than females of _M. f. meridana_ that I have wondered if it
is correctly sexed. However, the fact that it was sexed by E. A.
Goldman, a collector of wide experience, lessens the possibility that a
mistake was made.
The color of the underparts is more restricted in _panamensis_ than in
any other subspecies of the species. Excluding the specimen from Mt.
Pirre, the least width of color of the underparts averages 16 (extremes
6-24) per cent of greatest width of the color of the upper parts. This
feature, together with the black color, imparts an appearance to the
Panamá weasel that is strikingly like that of a mink. _M. f.
panamensis_ is one of the two blackest weasels; _M. f. aureoventris_ is
the other. Each of these subspecies occurs in a region of heavy
rainfall and there clearly is a positive correlation between high
humidity and intensity of color. The black tip of the tail, as regards
extent, here reaches the maximum attained among Central and South
American weasels. The foot soles are less hairy than in any other
member of the subgenus _Mustela_. The tympanic bullae are lower and
less inflated than in any other subspecies of the species.