188 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1898. 



A NEW WEASEL FKOM NEW MEXICO. 

 BY C. M. BARBER AND T. D. A. COCKERELL. 



Putorius frenatus subsp. neomexicanus n. subsp. 



Similar to P. frenatus, but paler in color ; white markings on 

 head more extensive, the white patch between the eyes large, quad- 

 rangular, and confluent with the stripes between eye and ear. 



Color. — Upper parts, including legs and body from shoulders to 

 tail, entirely of a uniform pale yellowish ochre, a sort of dilute 

 coffee color, but warmer; feet decidedly pallid, but not white. 

 Tail the color of the back, but rather more tinged with reddish, the 

 apical 50 mm. black. Under parts, including breast and throat, 

 uniform light yellowish-ochreous, a tint like that of the back but 

 somewhat paler. Head brownish-black ; a large quadrangular 

 creamy-white patch between the eyes, slightly broadest behind, 

 about one-fifth longer than its greatest breadth, narrowly confluent 

 with broad white bands between the eye and ear, which latter ex- 

 tend downward and backward, fading gradually into the ochreous 

 color of the under parts. Face in front of median white patch 

 slightly speckled with whitish. Long bristles of upper lip, some 

 black and some white ; a variable amount of white on upper lip ; no 

 black behind angles of mouth. Hair of ears brown-black, but white 

 hairs from the lateral bands invade the lower anterior parts, over- 

 lapping the aperture. The black of the head fades into brown be- 

 hind the plane of the ears, and shows here a small whitish mark ; 

 the area behind the lower part of the ears is strongly suffused with 

 blackish, contrasting with the yellowish-white immediately below. 



Cranial characters. — Compared with Merriam's figure of the skull 

 of frenatus (N. A. Weasels, PI. Ill, f. 1), the skull of neomexicanus 

 is similar, but the frontal region is less narrowed anteriorly and 

 slightly more convex ; and the zyomatic processes seem less produced 

 in a lateral direction ; the occipital condyles are more produced be- 

 hind. 



Total length of skull 54 mm.; greatest breadth 32 ; interorbital 

 breadth 14J ; foramen magnum to plane of last molars 34 mm. 



Measurements (of type specimen in flesh). — Length 500 mm., tail 

 205, hind feet 50. 



