Goldman — New Mammals from North and Middle America. 115 



cal form, but the " greenish yellow " color ascribed to the latter obviously 



could not apply to richmondi, which is characterized by intensely rufes- 



cent tones. 



Specimens examined. — Total number, 21, as follows: 



Costa Rica: San Juan, 1; Talamanca (probably near Sipurio), 5. 



Nicaragua: Escondido River (type locality), 3 skins and skulls, and 



12 additional skulls. 



Vampyrus spectrum nelsoni, subsp. nov. 



NELSON'S FALSE VAMPIRE. 



Type from Coatzacoalcos, Vera Cruz, Mexico. No. 78,127, c? adult, 

 U. S. National Museum (Biological Survey collection), collected byE. W. 

 Nelson, May 14, 1896. Original number 9579. 



General characters, — Similar to Vampyrus spectrum spectrum, but 

 smaller; forearm shorter; skull differing in detail, especially the reduc- 

 tion of hypocone of posterior upper premolar. 



Color. — Type in alcohol: General color of fur rusty-brownish, and not 

 obviously different from that of V. s. spectrum. 



Skull. — Rather decidedly smaller than that of V. s. spectrum ; zygomata 

 less abruptly spreading posteriorly, the sides more nearly parallel; hypo- 

 cone of posterior upper molar less developed, the projecting shelf-like 

 border less extended antero-posteriorly; large upper molars with posterior 

 borders less deeply emarginate. 



Measurements. — Type: Forearm, 106.9; tibia, 53.5; foot with claws, 31 

 (without claws, 25). Skull (type): Greatest length, 51; zygomatic 

 breadth, 23.6; width of braincase at constriction over audital bullse, 18; 

 width of rostrum over anterior premolars, 8.1; width of palate at back 

 of posterior molars, 4.8; maxillary toothrow (front of canine to back of 

 posterior molar), 20.2; mandibular toothrow (front of canine to back of 

 posterior molar), 22.4. 



Remarks. — Vampyrus spectrum, the largest of American bats, was as- 

 signed by Linnaeus to South America, but is now known to range north 

 into the West Indies and Middle America. Two specimens from Trinidad, 

 kindly loaned by the American Museum of Natural History, are assumed 

 to be nearly typical of V. spectrum of Surinam* and have been used for 

 comparison. On the basis of this material examples from Middle America 

 are referred to V. s. nelsoni which, however, apparently reaches its 

 greatest divergence from the South American form in Mexico. Speci- 

 mens from Nicaragua and Panama, as might be expected for geographic 

 reasons, are somewhat intermediate in general characters including size. 

 In the posterior excavation of the large upper molars, they approximate 

 the typical subspecies, but in the reduction of the hypocones of the 

 posterior upper premolars agree closely with the type. In one of the 

 Trinidad examples of V. s. spectrum an additional small upper premolar 

 is present on one side at the postero-external base of the canine. 



Vampyrus spectrum appears to be a rare species, at least in Middle 



* Type region fixed by Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Mar., 1911, p. 130. 



