56 HEVTSroX OF AMERICAN MOLES— TRUE. 



Nevadas, it may be sliowu that the mole of this region unites with 

 toioiNOidi, or even that orariKs and toirnseiidi nierjie into each other 

 in this roundabout wiiy. 



In California, if my views are correct, there is only a single varying 

 species, S. c(tli/o}'ni(ii.s. This occupies the coast country along its en- 

 tire length, except perhaps, the most northerly i)art near the boundary. 

 At the south it extends no farther east than the San Bernardino Moan- 

 tains, and follows the higher land up to the southern rampart of the 

 Sacramento Valle}'. It does not enter the valley, so far as known, bnt 

 is diverted east and west: one portion of the range, as already stated, 

 covering the coast country east of the coast range, and the other 

 extending along the Sierras, probably throughout the whole range 

 in suitable localities, uj) to Shasta County (Fort Crook, liaird, etc.), and 

 beyond in Oregon to the Klamath Lake region. Tlie si>ecies occurs at 

 Owens Lake and Tahoe Lake, as already stated, both of Avhich are on 

 the eastern slope of the Sierras, but at considerable elevations. 



South of the ^Nlexicau border we have only one species, iS'. foithonyi, 

 and this is known only from one specimen obtained in the San Pedro 

 Martir Mountains, at an elevation of 7,000 feet. 



THE SPECIES OF SCAPANFS. 



On the basis of the specimens examined, I am disposed to recognize 

 four species of Seapanus. The typical species, ;S'. toicnsencU, is a large 

 dusky mole, with a long face. The color is much darker than is ever 

 attained by >Sc(iIo2)f<aqi(atici(s and is abnost precisely that of Farasctdops. 

 The skull is noticeably large and massive, and the bridge of bone limit- 

 ing the suborbital foramen behind is broad and deju'essed. The lateral 

 unicusi»id teeth are large ayd terete, and form a regular row. They are 

 noticeably more widely separated from one another than in the more 

 southern si)ecies. The interval between the tirst upper incisor and 

 the last i)remolar exceeds 17 per cent of the total length of the skull, 

 while in the Californian species this interval rarely reaches IG per cent 

 and is generally about 15 per cent. This character, together with the 

 large size, is suflicient to separate S. townsendi from the Californian 

 species. In the vicinity of Puget Sound and along the coast of Wash- 

 ington and northern Oregon is a second species, S. orarins, which is 

 also dark colored and long-faced, and presents the cranial characters 

 of S. iointaendi, but is at once distingnishable by its very small size. 

 In ('alifornia we tind a third species, Avhich is distinguishable from the 

 other two externally by its lighter color. It has a short face. It is a 

 variable s])ecies as regards size, reaching almost the ])roportions of 

 /S'. toinisendi in the northern i)art of its lange and becoming smaller 

 than aV. orariiis :it tlie Sontli. It is also soimewliat variable in color, 

 as will be shown more in detail i)resently. 



Townsend's mole, A', ioini.scndi, presents very little variation either 

 in size or color. It is as dark, or nearly as dark, at Crescent City, Cal- 

 ifornia, the southern limit of its range, as about Puget Sound, and it 



