VOL. XV PP. 81-82 APRIL 25, 1902 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A NEW RABBIT FROM SOUTHERN TEXAS.* 

 BY GERRIT S. MILLER, JR. 



The cottontail of the tropical region of extreme southern 

 Texas differs from the races inhabiting the neighboring portions 

 of the lower austral life zone, and is equally distinct from the 

 Mexican rabbits thus far known. It may therefore be de 

 scribed as: 



Lepus simplicicanus sp. nov. 



Type. From Brownsville, Texas, No. Mfo-f United States National 

 Museum, 9 ad. Collected October 19, 1891 by F. B. Armstrong. 



Characters. In size and general appearance not unlike Lepus chap- 

 mani from Corpus Christi, Texas, but fur everywhere much shorter; 

 color essentially similar, but grizzle of head and anterior portion of body 

 much less coarse, owing to the reduced length of the pale ring on each 

 hair. " 



Color. Back a fine grizzle of black and cream-buff, the latter slightly 

 in excess. The elements of the color are almost exactly as in Lepus 

 chapmani except that the cream-buff is slightly more yellow, but the 

 grizzle is less coarse owing to the fact that both pale rings and dark tips 

 average about 1 mm. shorter. It is partly due to the different quality 



*Published here by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



18 BIOL. Soc. WASH. VOL. XV, 1902. (81) 



