3IO 



VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



O. p. oryzivorus (Audubon & Bachman) . Color browner (less gray) ; 

 body slenderer: South Carolina to Florida and southern Texas. 



O. p. coloratus Bangs. Color rich reddish brown; size large; length 

 301 mm.: southern Florida. 



5. Sigmodon Say & Ord. Body large and rat-like; ears large; tail 

 long; molars with crowns flattened and showing S-shaped loops: 

 II species, mostly in Mexico; i species in the United States. 



S. hispidus S. & O. Cotton rat (Fig. 166). Color yellowish brown 

 above sprinkled with black, whitish beneath; fur long and coarse; 

 length 252 mm.; tail 102 mm.; hind foot 32 mm.: south Atlantic and 

 Gulf States; westward to Kansas, Texas and into Mexico. 



Subspecies of S. hispidus 



S. h. hispidus S. & O. North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana. 

 S. h. littoralis Chapman. Color darker: southeastern Florida. 

 S. h. spadicipygus Bangs. Size smaller; rump rufous: southern 

 Florida. 



S. h. texianus (Audubon & Bachman). Size smaller; rump reddish: 

 Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. 



S. h. berlandieri Baird. Size small; colors pale: western Texas and 

 eastern New Mexico. 



S. h. eremicus Mearns. Color yellowish: along the lower Colorado. 

 S. h. arizoncE Mearns. Size large; length 

 320 mm.; colors pale: Arizona. 



Subfamily 3. Neotominae. — Wood rats ; moun- 

 tain rats. Body large, but slender; eyes and ears 

 large; tail long; crowns of molar teeth flattened 

 ??~^ y^ (Fig. 167) : 5 genera, all in North America, i in 



^^ ^^ ^^^ United States. 



Neotoma Say and Ord. With the characters 

 of the subfamily: 28 species, about 10 in the 

 United States, mostly in the western States; 

 most species live in rocky or mountainous regions, building large conical 

 nests of sticks, often in trees above the ground, to which well-defined 

 runways lead. Their food consists of grass, bark, seeds, fruit, etc. 

 Wood rats have several litters a year of from 2 to 5 young each. They 

 sometimes enter houses and resemble the common rat, but may be dis- 

 tinguished by usually greater size, larger ears and eyes, a shorter and 

 fully furred, bicolor tail and white feet and under parts. 



Fig. 167. — Non-tubercu 

 late teeth of Neotoma. 



