886 MONOGRAPHS OF NORTH AMERICAN RODENTIA. 
SPERMOPHILUS ANNULATUS Aud. & Bach. 
Annulated-tailed Spermophile. 
Spermophilus annulatus AUDUBON & BacHMaNn, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. viii, 1842, 319; Quad. N. 
Amer. ii, 1851, 213, pl. xxix. See also BarrD, Mam. N. Amer. 1857, 327. 
Sciurus rufobrachiatum Murray, Geog. Distr. Mamm. 1866, 354 (not Sciurus rufobrachiatum Waterhouse). 
? Sciurus lewist H.-Smirn, Griffith’s Cuvier’s An. King. iii, 1827, 190, and plate. 
Speciric cHARS.—Length of head and body 9.50; of tail to end of 
vertebrae 6.50; to end of hairs 9.00; hind foot 2.10; fore foot 1.15; height 
of ear 0.50. Above, coarsely varied with yellowish-brown and black; top 
of head black, varied slightly with yellowish-brown; sides of the head, neck, 
shoulders, outer surface of fore limbs, and upper surface of hind feet dark 
reddish-brown or chestnut; sides of the nose and a ring around the eyes light 
brownish-yellow ; beneath, pale straw-yellow, more brownish anteriorly and 
on the edges of the thighs. The color of the dorsal surface extends low 
down on the sides of the body, the blackish tint involving the basal portion 
of the hairs even on the abdomen. Lower surface of the tail nearly uniform 
reddish-cinnamon, with an interrupted narrow black border edged with yel- 
lowish; upper surface banded transversely with black and yellowish-white, 
the black bars rather the wider and about fifteen in number, becoming indis- 
tinct on the basal portion of the tail. 
The general form of the body is highly Sciurine. The ears are broad, fully 
half an inch high, and well rounded above. The tail with the hairs is nearly 
as long as the body, flat and distichous, but rather narrow. Claws short, 
strong, and more highly curved than in any other of the American Spermo- 
philes (except perhaps S. grammurus), having nearly the form seen in Sciwrus. 
The pelage is sparse, coarse and stiff, and without under fur. The hairs of 
the dorsal surface are grooved above, black, ringed once near the tip with pale 
yellowish-brown. 
The only specimen of this animal that I have seen is a skin, in excellent 
condition, of an adult female, in summer pelage, collected on the Plains of 
Colima, Western Mexico, in 1863, by Mr. John Xantus.* Judging from the 
characters afforded by the skin, this species belongs to the subgenus Ofo- 
spermophilus, but in some features is rather more Sciurine than even S. gram- 
murus, its nearest ally. The ears, though large, are less pointed than in that 
species, and the tail less bushy; the claws are short, deep, and much 
*It bears the National Museum number ge original number 134. 
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