Vol. XXIV, pp. 13-14 January 28, 1911 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THE GENERIC NAME OF THE MUSKRAT. 

 BY N. HOLLTSTER. 



For over sixty years the propriety of Fiber as the generic 

 name of the muskrat has not been questioned. A careful 

 review of the history and synonymy of the genus brings to 

 light a surprising state of uncertainty as to the validity of this 

 name. 



Linnaeus, after having previously confounded the American 

 muskrat with his Castor moschatvs (= Desmana moschata) of 

 Asia, in 1766 recognized it as a distinct species, naming it 

 Castor zibethicus. Gmelin, 1788, transferred it to the Linnsean 

 genus Mas, placing it in a starred section (cauda apice com- 

 pressa) with the Mus roi/pus of -Molina. Kerr, 1792, gave this 

 section a subgeneric name, Myocastor.* Link, 1795, erected 

 the genus Ondatra,^ with the same two component species, 

 Ondatra coypus and 0. zibethicus. Lacepede, 179'), listed a 

 genus Ondatra, + with Ondatra zibethicus as the typical specific 

 example. Presumably, he, like the others, considered the 

 coypu congeneric with the muskrat. Cuvier, 1800, named a 

 subgenus Fiber, § based on the ondatra of his "Tableau," 1798, 

 and Illiger, 1811, formally adopted the combination Fiber 

 zibethicus. || Various other generic names were later proposed 

 for the animal, but these have no bearing on the case in 

 question. Lesson seems to have been the last author to con- 

 sider Ondatra seriously, after which the name dropped into the 

 synonymy of Fiber. 



* Anim. Kingd., p. 225. 1792. 



iBeytr. Nat.. I, pt, II. p. 7fi. 1795. 



tTabl. Miimm., p. 9. 1799. 



fcLecons, d' Anat. Comp., I, tabl. I, 1800. 



II Prodr. s.n st. Mamm., i>. 88, 1811. 



4— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIV, 1911. (13) 



