' f 



Nelson Seven Neiv Rabbits. 107 



General characters. Similar to L. floridanus aztecus, but larger and a little 

 darker, with rufous on legs of a duller and darker shade. Skull larger, with 

 rostrum strikingly broader and more depressed at tip. 



Description of type, in fresh winter pelage. Top of head and back dark 

 grizzled ochraceous buffy (with a slight reddish tinge) overlaid with a thin 

 blackish wash due to black tips of long hairs ; sides and rump distinctly 

 more grayish, lacking most of the reddish buffy of back ; nape rusty rufous, 

 darker posteriorly ; upper side of tail dark reddish brown, becoming black 

 ish about tip ; front and sides of forelegs cinnamon rufous ; back and sides 

 of hind legs reddish chestnut ; back of fore legs and front of hind legs 

 and top of hind feet deep reddish buffy ; under side of body mainly deep 

 yellowish buffy (some other specimens have ventral surface white) ; sides 

 of head with small buffy whitish spots back of and just in front of eyes ; 

 rest of sides of head similar but a little paler than reddish buffy crown ; 

 ears with fine pale border on inner side ; externally (on convex surface) 

 blackish brown from grizzled grayish brown base to tip. 



Skull characters. Skull large and heavy ; longer than in aztecus and about 

 the same length as in yucatanicus but not so massive as in that form ; ros 

 trum very broad, especially at outer end, but depth of rostrum proportion 

 ately small; outer end of nasals broad and much less depressed than in 

 aztecus, thus adding to massive appearance of rostrum viewed from above ; 

 superior outline of skull posteriorly gently curved, about as in aztecus, but 

 much straighter and more flattened anteriorly ; interorbital width narrow ; 

 jugal heavy, with a well-marked groove ending anteriorly in a deep pit ; 

 bullse about same size as in aztecus but proportionately smaller. 



Measurements. External measurements of type (taken in flesh) : Total 

 length, 468 ; tail vertebrae, 55 ; hind foot, 97 ; ear from notch (from dried 

 skin), 60. 



Cranial measurements of type : Occipito-nasal length, 80 ; basal length of 

 Hensel, 61 ; interorbital width, 18 ; parietal width, 26 ; length of nasals, 37 ; 

 width of nasals, 17 ; depth of rostrum at front base of molars, 15; width of 

 rostrum above same point, 19 ; greatest diameter of bullse, 10. 



Specimens examined. Eleven. 



General notes. With the exception of being a little darker colored, espe 

 cially the rufous on the legs, and its larger size, the Chiapas cottontail bears 

 externally a close resemblance to L. f. aztecus, but its well-marked skull 

 characters are sufficient to distinguish the two. The broad flat rostrum is 

 a strong character which is very distinctive. So far as known, this is the 

 southernmost subspecies of Lepus floridanus. In general size the skull of 

 chiapensis is nearest that of yucatanicus, but the broader, flatter rostrum, 

 narrower braincase, and smaller bullse distinguish it. 



Lepus arizona? goldmani subsp. nov. 



SINALOA COTTONTAIL. 



Type Adult male, No. 96,812, U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey 

 Collection, from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Collected March 20, 1899, by 

 E. A. Goldman. Original number 13,588. 



