Vol. XIV, pp. 119-124 JUly 19, 1901 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



DESCRIPTIONS OF FOUR NEW PECCARIES 

 FROM MEXICO. 



BY C. HART MERRIA:\r. 



A preliiiiiiiiiry .study of the Mexican Peccaries in the collec- 

 tion of the Biological Survey of the U. S. Department of Ag- 

 riculture, shows that theCollare<l Peccary {Tay<is><u angiilatus) 

 is separable into several strongly marked sul)Rpecies, that a very 

 distinct dwarf species of the same gi-oup inhabits Cozumel 

 Island off the coast of Yucatan, and that tlie large South Ameri- 

 can White-lip]»ed Peccary {ulbirosfris^' \]\\geY=lahiatHs Cuvier), 

 not previously known from Mexico, is represented in the State 

 of Campeche by a strongly marked subspecies of which four 

 specimens were recently collected l)y E. W. Nelson and E. A. 

 Goldman. 



The American Peccaries comprise twi> very distinct su]»er- 

 specitic or sul)generic types, which may be designated as {<i) the 



*iS'w.v albiroxtriti \\\\<x(?i- (ISl.'i) antedates by two years Dirotiiles lahiatus 

 Cuvier (1817) and is therefore, so far as Ivnown, tlie earliest specific 

 name for the Wliite-lipped Peccary. Illiger's original reference is as 

 follows: "'The two species of sM'ine or peccaries peculiar to South 

 America, the Huh Tajasttu and the Tagnicati {Sun albiroHtris) distin- 

 guished for the first time by Azara, must form a special group within 

 the genus. They have hardlj^ any tail and only one claw on the hind 

 feet" (p. 113).— Illiger, Abhand. K. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (1811), pp. 108, 

 115. 1815. 



20— BIOL. SOC. VVTASH. VOL. XIV, 1901. (119) 



