NO. 5 MAMMALS OF PANAMA GOLDMAN I ip 



and body; the sole of the hind foot is hairy from the posterior 

 tubercle to the heel instead of naked to the heel as in all the species of 

 Heterouiys known to inhabit Panama. 



The species as shown by specimens obtained by Messrs. Osgood 

 and Anderson at Balbpa for the Field Museum of Natural History, 

 and by me at Empire, Canal Zone, is a large form of the Lioniys 

 crispus group which ranges thence northward through Middle 

 America to southern Mexico. It has the same general coloration, 

 proportionately short tail, and the dental peculiarities of the other 

 members of the group. In color it approaches Liomys hctcrothrix 

 of Honduras, but the slender tawny hairs which project beyond the 

 dorsal bristles are less numerous. Moreover, it is characterized by 

 larger size than that species.* Compared further, the skull has a 

 relatively broader rostrum and the nasals and premaxillae are usually 

 more nearly conterminous posteriorly than in L. hctcrothrix. Ihe 

 exact relationship of this form to the Costa Rican animal described 

 by Thomas as Heteromys salvini nigrescens and currently recognized 

 as Liomys salvini nigrescens remains to be determined. 



Like other members of the Liomys crispus group L. adspcrsus 

 inhabits dryer, less heavily forested areas than those usually favored 

 by members of the genus Heteromys. It is probably restricted to 

 the arid belt bordering the Pacific coast of Panama and replaced 

 along the Atlantic side of the Isthmus by spiny pocket mice of the 

 genus Heteromys. At Empire specimens were trapped among 

 bushes, largely Compositae, along the border of a corn field. The 

 pouches of one contained rolled oats used as bait, and some dead 

 leaves cut in fragments about half an inch in length. 



Specimens examined : Balboa, 3 ^ ; Empire, 2. 



Family OCTODONTIDAE. Octodonts 



The Octodonts are rodents mainly South American and African 

 in distribution. Of the several subfamilies usually recognized a 

 single group, the Loncherinae, ranges within our limits. 



'A rather young female from Empire, Canal Zone, measures as follows: 

 Total length, 245; tail vertebrae, 117; hind foot, 33.5- Skull (of same): 

 Greatest length, 33.5; zygomatic breadth, 16; interorbital breadth, 7.5; nasals, 

 13.5 ; width of braincase (between outer sides of squamosals in front of 

 auditory meatus), 14.4; alveolar length of upper molar series, 5.4. 



' Collection Field Mus. Nat. Hist. 



