MAMMALS 291 



5. tenuis Howell. White markings very broad; length 450 mm.; 

 tail 165 mm.; hind foot 51 mm.: eastern slopes of the Rockies in New 

 Mexico and Colorado. 



5. leucoparia Merr. White markings very broad; no white of legs: 

 western Texas to central Arizona. 



S. gracilis Merr. Like S. leucoparia; length 381 mm. ; tail 143 mm.; 

 hind foot 44 mm. : Great Basin from Arizona and California into Oregon 

 and Idaho. 



S. amhigua Mearns. Like S. gracilis: central Arizona, southward. 



S. arizoncB Mearns. Like 5. gracilis, but larger: central New 

 Mexico and Arizona, southward. 



S. phenax Merr. Dorsal pair of white stripes narrow, lateral pair 

 much broader; length 470 mm.; tail 154 mm.; hind foot 52 mm.: Pacific 

 slope. 



Subspecies of S. phenax 



S. p. phenax Merr. California, except the southeastern and the 

 northern portions. 



S. p. latifrons Merr. White stripes less prominent: Oregon coast 

 region. 



6". p. olympica Merr. Tail shorter : Olympic peninsula. 



3. Conepatus Gray. Snout long and proboscis-like, with a large 

 bare pad on the upper side for rooting; color black, with a white tail 

 and a wide middorsal white band; dentition t^J^,, 1/1,2/3, 1/2:7 species 

 in Mexico and Central and South America. 



C. mesoleucus telmalestes Bailey. Hog-nose skunk. Length 670 

 mm.; tail 290 mm.; hind foot 75 mm.: central and southern Texas to 

 Arizona. 



Subfamily 3. Melinae. — Badgers. Body stocky; legs short; toes 

 not retractile, with long claws; tail very short: i genus. 



Taxidea Storr. Dentition 3/3, i/i, t,!^,, 1/2; skull attenuate in 

 front: i species. 



T. taxus (Schreber). American Badger. Color gray, mottled with 

 black dorsally and with a white stripe running from the top of the nose 

 to the shoulder; belly w^hitish; length 675 mm.; tail 125 mm.; weight 

 about 15 lbs.: western North America from western Texas and Mexico 

 to Hudson Bay and Lake Athabaska; eastward into Wisconsin, Michi- 

 gan and Kansas; westward to the Pacific coast. The badger lives in 

 deep burrows in the ground and feeds on small animals of all kinds, 

 especially rodents. Towards the north they hibernate in the winter; 

 a single litter of from 2 to 5 young is raised annually. 



