316 BASSARISCUS. 



74. Bassariscvis. 



I. 3=3 Q LZI; p. 4=4 M =— = = 40 



3—3 I— I 4-4' 2—2 T^ 



Bassariscus. Coues, Science, 1887, 9, p. 516. 



Bassaris, (Licht), Wagl., Isis, 1831, p. 512 (nee. Hoebner, Lept., 

 1816-21). 



Head short, muzzle pointed; ears large; pads naked; soles hairy; 

 body slender, elongated; tail long as body, annulated. 



476. astutus. {Bassans), Licht., Wagler, Isis, 1831, p. 513. 



Type locality. Mexico. 



Geogr. Disir. California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico. 



Genl. Char. Body slender, elongate; muzzle pointed, tail long, 

 bushy; claws half retractile; skull long, slender; postorbital process 

 of frontal bone short; upper sectorial with inner cusp much devel- 

 oped; anterior cusp of lower sectorial shortest. 



Color. Above yellowish brown and gray mixed; below white. 

 Legs and feet like the body. Tail, white with six or eight alternate 

 black rings. 



Measurements. Total length, about 720; tail to end of hairs, 360. 

 Skull: occiput to incisors, 79; Hensel, 69; zygomatic width, 47; mas- 

 toid width, 35; occipito-sphenoid length, 35; width of orbital con- 

 striction, 21. 



a.— raptor. {Bassaris), Baird, Rep. U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv. Mamm., 

 1859, "> P- 19- 



Type locality. California. 



Geogr. Distr. California and Oregon. 



Genl. Char. Similar to B. astutus. Skull more slender, nasals 

 narrower and more pointed; postorbital processes of frontal bone 

 lengthened; sectorials smaller and the inner cusp of upper one not 

 so much developed. Orbital constriction very great. 



Color. Upper part of the body brownish yellow, darker than 

 B. astutus, and not inclined to gray, many black hairs being inter- 

 spersed among the others. Beneath buffy white. Tail, with black 

 and white rings, much broader than those in the allied species. 



Measurements. Total length, 717; tail, 365; hind leg, 70; ear, 

 47. Skull: occiput to incisors, 78; Hensel, 69; zygomatic width, 68; 

 mastoid width, 35; width at orbital constriction, 16. 

 b.—flavus. (Bassariscus), Rhoades, Proc. Acad. Nat. Scien. Phila. , 

 1893, p. 417. 



Type locality. Texas. 



Genl. Char. Size smaller than B. astutus; tail shorter than body, 

 often entirely encircled by the black rings. 



