﻿MAMMALS OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA — HERSHKOVITZ 351 



basis of previous classifications, would make optional their assign- 

 ment to either the "anclinus group" or the "gabbi group." Of Colom- 

 bian forms, ajjollinaris is nearest meridensis and shows very nearly 

 the same relationship to it as kelloggi shows to andinus. 



Distinguishing characters of recognized races are but slight modi- 

 fications of a common pattern as exemplified by the Central American 

 gabbi, to mention the better-known form. Some races, paraguoisis, 

 gibsoni, capsalis, chotanus, daulensis, and consobrinus, are paler than 

 gabbi; others, messorius, surdaster, and defilippi, are darker. In gen- 

 eral, tapitis of humid, primary forest are darker than those of drier 

 deciduous forests or of open country whether this be savanna, swamp, 

 or desert. 



Thirty-nine races of Sylvilagus brasiliensis are formally listed below. 

 Two of these are described as new. The six North American forms 

 are not critically reviewed. Judgment on the status and validity of 

 each named form of South American tapitis has been exercised here to 

 the extent permitted by the nature of available material. Museum 

 collections contain a fair representation of tapitis from Panama, 

 Ecuador, and Paraguay. Specimens from Brazil and Andean coun- 

 tries, other than Ecuador, are few and from widely scattered localities. 

 The Guianas, the Orinoco region, and, except for a few of its extreme 

 western reaches, the whole Amazonian region are not yet represented 

 by tapitis in collections, 



SYLVILAGUS BRASIUENSIS TRUEI (Allen) 



Lepus truei Allen, BuU. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 3, p. 192, 1890. 

 Sylvilagus gabbi truei, Nelson, North American Fauna No. 29, p. 262, 1909. 



Holotype. — Adult, skin and skull, U.S.N.M. No. 34378 (skuli) (skull 

 originally misnumbered 25953); collected by C. Sartorius; original 

 mark, ''e." 



Type locality. — Mirador, Veracruz, Mexico. 



Distribution. — Humid tropical forest regions of southern Mexico 

 from Veracruz south into Guatemala. 



Remarks. — The uimiade skin of the type is in very poor condition, 

 with large portions of the epidermis rotten. The skull, formerly 

 mounted in the skin, is badly damaged. The name truei should be 

 restricted to the skull if the skin proves to have been mismatched. 



SYLVILAGUS BRASILIENSIS GABBI (Allen) 



Lepus brasiliensis var. gabbi Allen, Monographs of North America Rodentia, 



Leporidae, p. 349, 1877. 

 Lepus gabbi, Alston, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Mammalia, vol. 1, p. 178, 



1882 (part; Costa Rica and Panamd. only, not Colombia and plate 19). 

 Sylvilagus tumacus Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 24, p. 649, 1908 



(Tuma, Nicaragua, type locality). 

 Sylvilagus gabbi, Nelson, North American Fauna No. 29, p. 259, 1909. 

 853011—50 4 



