﻿MAMMALS OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA — HERSHKOVITZ 343 



Sylvilagus nigronuchalis, Osgood, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 10, 

 p. 28, pi. 11, 1910 (Aruba, Curasao). — Van der Horst, Bijdr. Fauna 

 Curagao, Bijdr. Dierk., vol. 23, p. 5, 1924. 



Sylvilagus nigronuchalis nigronuchalis, Hummelinck, Studies on the fauna of 

 Curasao, Aruba, Bonaire and the Venezuelan Islands, vol. 1 (Utrecht), p. 67, 

 1940 (Curasao, Aruba); vol. 2 (The Hague), p. 95, 1940 (Curasao, Aruba). 



Holoiype. — Subadult male, skin (mounted) and skull, Zoological 

 Museum, Tring; collected by Ernst Hartert. 



Type locality. — Aruba, Dutch West Indies, off the coast of Venez- 

 uela opposite the Peninsula de Paraguana. 



Distribution. — The islands of Aruba and Curasao, Dutch West 

 Indies; according to Hiunmelinck {supra cit.) "very probably not 

 occurring in Bonaire." 



Characters. — A pale, insular dark-naped cottontail: Size compara- 

 tively small, nuchal patch, at least medially, Prout's Brown to black; 

 rostral patch, from tip of nose to crown, dominantly grayish or buffy, 

 back of crown between anterior bases of ears, grayish; side of face 

 buffy to ochraceous lightly mixed with dark brown, cheek Light Buff; 

 under side of tail sharply defined white; skuU smaller, cranial pro- 

 portions intermediate between Colombian and Venezuelan rufous- 

 naped subspecies. 



Measurements. — Those of a young adult male topotype followed by 

 those of a subadult female from Curagao: Total length, 388, 360; tail, 

 28, 30; hind foot, 78, 85; ear, dry from notch, 52, 53; condylobasal 

 length, 61.7, 58.7; length of nasals, -, 30.9; greatest combined width 

 of nasals across premaxillary sutures, 16.2, 14.4; least length of 

 palatal bridge, 6.5, 6.4; alveolar length of maxillary tooth row, 14.1, 

 12.7. The following measurements given by Hummelinck {supra cit.) 

 are the extremes of 19 specimens from Aruba and Curasao: Hind foot, 

 78-85: ear, from notch, 52.5-56; condylobasal length, 61-64.5; zygo- 

 matic breadth, 33.5-34.5; length of nasals, 30.5-31.5. 



Remarks. — Two of three topotypes at hand are juvenals less than a 

 month old, the third a young adult. The last, taken April 28, 1908, 

 during the dry season, is in old gray pelage; its nuchal patch Prout's 

 Brown. Hartert described the nape of the type as brownish black; 

 Hummelinck, who examined 19 specimens from Aruba and Curagao, 

 most of which were collected during the rainy season from October 

 through December, characterized the nuchal patch as "deep black." 

 A subadult from Curagao, in unworn pelage, taken March 30, is 

 darker on nape and more w^armly colored on back than the available 

 adult topotype; in both, rostral patch is Warm Buff' lightly mixed 

 with dark brown, cheek Cartridge Buff to Cream-Buff'. 



According to Hartert, Dutch residents of Aruba and Cura9ao call 

 the dark-naped cottontail "a rabbit," but, he adds, "it does not 

 burrow like rabbits. It lives in the scrub and among the rocks, 

 resting during the daytime in its form, like the European hare." 



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