MAMMALS 283 



Subspecies of S. phenax 



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

 the extreme northern portions. 



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

 region. 



S. 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 3/3, i/i, 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 4. Taxidiinae. — Badgers. Body stocky; legs short; 

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



Taxidea Storr. Dentition ;^/7^, i/i, 3/3, 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 whitish; length 700 mm.; tail 135 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. 



Subspecies of T. taxus 



T. t. pJiippsi Figgins. Larger and darker: southern Colorado. 



T. t. taxus (Schreber). Western America. 



T. t. berlandieri (Baird) . A white middorsal stripe from nose to tail : 

 western Texas and westward into California. 



T. t. neglecta (Mearns). Size smaller and with less black: California 

 Oregon and Washington. 



Subfamily 5. Lutrinae. — Otters. Body elongate; legs short; head 

 broad behind, with a sharp snout; ears small and round; toes webbed; 

 tail long, broad and flattened; fur short and dense: i genus. 



Lutra Brisson. With the characters of the subfamily; toes 5-5; 

 dentition 3/3, i/i, 4/3, 1/2: many species, cosmopolitan; i species in 

 the United States. 



