490 



BULLETIN 56, UNITP:D STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



NEOTOMA PINETORUM Merriam. 

 PINE WOOD-RAT. 



Neotoma pinetorum Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., VIII, p. Ill, July 31, 1893 

 (original description).— Miller and Rehn, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., No. 1, 

 Dec. 27, 1901, p. 108 (Syst. Results Study N. Am. Mam. to close of 1900). 



[Neotoma] pinetorum, Elliot, Field Col. Mus., Zool. Ser., II, 1901, p. 158 (Synop. Mam. 

 N. Am.). 



Fig. 121.— Neotoma pinetorum. Skull, a, dorsal view: b. ventral view; c, lateral view. 



Type-locality. — San Francisco Mountain, Arizona. (Type, skin and 

 skull, "Oat. No. Will, U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey col- 

 lection.) 



Geograpliical range. — Forested areas of the Colorado Plateau in 

 northeastern Arizona. Transition and Lower Boreal zones. 



Description. — Similar to Neotoma mexicana, 

 but much larger, and of a darker, more ful- 

 vous color on the upper surface. Length, 

 360 mm.; tail vertebrae, 160: hind foot, 37; 

 ear from crown, 25. Skull, 47 by 24 (adult 

 male from Baker's Butte, Yavapai County, 

 Arizona). Above fulvous, thickly lined with 

 Idack-tipped hairs; under surface and feet, 

 white; tail black above, white below; sides of 

 face, grayish. 



Cranial and dental cJiaracters. — The skull and 

 teeth (figs. 121 and 122), though much heavier 

 than in Neotoma mexicana, have much the 

 same character. The interpterygoid space is remarkably long and 

 narrow. 



Remarlcs. — This species does not reach the Mexican Line, but was 

 included in my earher collections, made in Arizona from 18S4 to 1888. 



Tlahits and local distrihntion. — This rat builds large nests in thickets 

 and stumps of trees. It enters houses freely. At Bakers Butte 

 (altitude, 8,000 feet) I trapped a specimen in a cabin; and the species 



Fig. 122.— Neotoma pine- 

 torum. Crowns of mo- 

 lar teeth, a, lower se- 

 ries: 6. UPPER SERIES. 



