MAMMALS OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA—HERSHKOVITZ 25 
systems have been modified by man to the extent that the ecological 
conditions with the fauna characteristic of the valley, largely prevail. 
Since collecting in both mountains was done at greatly varying alti- 
tudinal levels, the squirrels reflect this in the variability of their color- 
ation and in the length and texture of their pelage. Generally, the 
paler, more thinly furred individuals were taken at the lowest levels, 
and the darker, more heavily furred ones at the highest altitudes with 
a mixture of both kinds in the intermediate zones. As might be 
expected, in the case of the Sierra de Perij4, where collecting was done 
on both slopes and on the summit at altitudes between 800 and 2,500 
meters, the large series of squirrels taken include individuals difficult 
to distinguish from the lowland splendidus and maracaibensis, the 
middle zone zuliae and tarrae, and the highland meridensis. 
Specimens examined.—Forty-seven. Sierra Negra, 30 (U.S.N.M.); 
Las Marimondas, 16 (U.S.N.M.); Laguna de Junco, Sierra Negra, 1 
(U.S.N.M.). 
SCIURUS GRANATENSIS MARACAIBENSIS, new subspecies 
Sciurus versicolor zuliae, Oscoop, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 10, 
p. 47, 1912 (nec Osgood, 1910). 
Mesosciurus gerrardi zuliae, ALLEN, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 34, p. 246, 
1915 (Rio Aurare, Encontrados, and Empalado Savannas specimens, nec 
Osgood). 
Holotype.—Adult female, skin and skull, C.N.H.M. No. 18733; 
collected January 17, 1911, by Osgood and Jewett; original No. 4118. 
Type locality —E] Panorama, Rio Aurare, a small river emptying 
into Lake Maracaibo, opposite the city of Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela; 
altitude near sea level. 
Distribution —From the lowlands surrounding Lake Maracaibo 
and the lower Rio Catatumbo westward into the low passes of the 
Montes de Oca (Sierra de Perij4) of Venezuela and Colombia. 
Characters—Sharply contrasting black and reddish; with more 
black on upperparts and red on underparts than perijae; with more 
black, the shoulder regions more contrasting, than in zuliae. 
Coloration of holotype-—Dorsal surface of body black with contrast- 
ing orange-rufous shoulder regions; hairs of rump and middorsum 
entirely black; anteriorly, hairs of dark median band to nape and 
crown annulated with capucine yellow; sides of face and chin buffy. 
Sides of body, limbs, and fore and hind feet orange-rufous; inner sides 
of thighs mixed with black; underparts orange-rufous with a broken 
white streak on midline of neck and tufts of white on axillae and 
upper arm. ‘Tail above black on basal and terminal fourths, middle 
portion orange-rufous, basal one-fourth of undersurface bicolor (black 
with mixed black and yellow) becoming entirely black at basal third, 
followed by a middle tricolor portion (orangeous, black, mixed yellow 
and black) which terminally merges into the wholly black penciled tip. 
