NO. 5 MAMMALS OF PANAMA GOLDMAN 47 



twisting their limbs and bodies about and rolling over and over on 

 the ground. In this pitiful condition they may live for hours. 



Several stomachs of opossums shot at night were examined and 

 found to contain the remains of crabs and small quantities of some 

 unidentifiable fruit. It is evident that crabs are an important element 

 of the diet of these animals, at least near the seacoasts. 



Under the name Didelphis richmondi, Bangs (1902, p. 19) noted 

 specimens collected by W. W. Brown, Jr., at Boquete. Later in the 

 same year Allen (/. c.) recorded 33 examples from Boqueron and 

 a smaller series from Boquete, all taken by J. H. Batty. Specimens 

 probably referable to this form were listed as Didelphis marsupialis 

 by Thomas (1903a, p. 42) from Sevilla, Afuera, Gobernador, 

 Tologa, Brava and Cebaco, all small islands o& the southern coast of 

 western Panama. He adds "as on the mainland, these island 

 opossums differ much among themselves, but none are as uniformly 

 brown-faced as. the Coiba form D. m. battyi." Anthony (1916, 

 p. 364) regarded the species as not uncommon in the Canal Zone, 

 but rarer in the Darien region. He recorded specimens from Boca 

 de Cupe, Cituro, Real de Santa Maria and Gatun. 



Through a peculiar transposition of names " zorro " for the male 

 and " zorra " for the female, commonly and more properly applied 

 by the people to the foxes in much of Middle America, are used 

 instead for the opossums in Panama and Costa Rica. While the 

 termination employed depends usually on the sex of individuals the 

 mascuHne form is used in a generic sense to designate the species, 

 or an individual whose sex is unknown. In Costa Rica where foxes 

 occur they have received the misnomer " tigrillo " (little tiger). 



Specimens examined : Ancon, i ; Boca de Cupe, i ' ; Boqueron, 

 18 ' ; Boquete, 7 ' ' ; Cana, 8 ; Cituro, i ' ; Empire, 3 ; Gatun, 13 ' ; Lion 

 Hill, 2; Mount Pirre, i ; Porto Bello, i ; Real de Santa Maria, 1/ 



DIDELPHIS MARSUPIALIS PARTICEPS Goldman 



San Miguel Island Opossum 



Didelphis marsupialis particeps Goldman, Proc. Biol. See. Washington, 



Vol. 30, p. 107, May 23, 1917, Type from San Miguel Island, Bay of 



Panama. 



In recording two opossums from San Miguel Island as Didelphis 



karkinophaga caucce Allen, Bangs (1906, p. 633) remarks : " These 



' Collection Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

 ' Six specimens in Mus. Comp. Zool. 



* Five specimens in Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



* One specimen in Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



