28o VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



Subspecies of P. lotor 



P. I. lotor (L.). United States north of Florida and Texas. 



P. I. elucus Bangs. Color distinctly yellow: Gulf coast. 



P. I. mexicanus Baird. Size large; color pale; tail long: western 

 Texas ; New Mexico, Arizona and Utah ; southward into southern Mexico. 



P. I. hernandezi Wagler. Size very large; black tail- rings very 

 narrow: western Mexico and into Arizona and southern California. 



P. pallidus Merriam. Color pale gray, with no yellowish; length 

 855 mm.; tail 295 mm.; hind foot 128 mm.: southern California; a 

 desert form. 



P. psora Gray. Size large; length 940 mm.; tail 310 mm.; hind foot 

 115 mm.; color dark grizzled gray: Pacific slope. 



Subspecies of P. psora 



P. p. psora Gray. CaHfornia. 



P. p. pacifica Merriam. Color much darker; black rings on tail 

 continuous below: northern California, Oregon and Washington. 



2. Bassariscus Coues. Body slender; head short; muzzle pointed; 

 ears large; tail very long, bushy and ringed black and white: 4 species, 

 in Mexico and the United States. 



B. astutus (Lichtenstein). Civet cat; ring- tailed cat. Color 

 uniform blackish gray, often tinged with fulvous on the sides; under 

 parts yellowish gray; length 850 mm.; tail 368 mm.; hind foot 72 mm.: 

 Mexico; Texas to CaHfornia and northward into Oregon; nocturnal, 

 omnivorous animals, living mostly among rocks; often commoji. 



Subspecies of B. astutus 



B. a. flavus Rhoads. Size smaller; color blackish on the back, 

 tawny on the sides: central and southern Texas to CaHfornia; Colorado; 

 Utah. 



B. a. oregonus Rhoads. Dorsal region intensely black ; color beneath 

 brownish yellow: western Oregon and northern California. 



3. Nasua Storr. Body slender; nose prolonged to form a probosis, 

 which projects over the mouth; legs short; tail long: several species in 

 Mexico, I over the border. 



N. narica pallida Allen. Coati. Color pale brown; nose and eye 

 region white; tail faintly ringed with white; fur thick and long; length 

 1,200 mm.; tail 515 mm.: Mexico; southern Texas and New Mexico. 



Family 4. Mustelidae. — Weasels, otters, skunks, etc. Body usu- 

 ally elongate; legs short; feet plantigrade or digitigrade; toes 5-5; 



