MAMMALS TALPIDAE SCALOPS TOWNSEXDII. 



67 



tionally broader ; the tail longer and thicker, tapering less to the tip. The color is a good deal 

 more silver y, almost like S. aquaticus or argentatus ; lighter below, and far from having the 

 sooty brown tinge of S. townsendii. The skull is perhaps a little broader ; the premolars more 

 compressed and trenchant. The anterior incisors are broad and rodent-like ; the two outer 

 ones on either side are entirely lateral, very small and nearly equal ; the canine is of similar 

 size, but a little larger. The tooth behind the canine is similar to that anterior to it, but a 

 little shorter ; the next two are successively larger and more compressed. In the lower jaw 

 the teeth anterior to the posterior four are simple, subcylindrical, and nearly equal in size. 



Notwithstanding these differences, I am by no means sure that the specimens from California 

 are distinct. I have before me five specimens, two from San Francisco, the others from Peta- 

 luma. These were all kept some time in alcohol ; and the feet, tail, and muzzle are fuller than 

 in dried skins. They are not as large as two specimens of S. townsendii from Washington Ter 

 ritory, but are about equal to three others. The skulls do not appear to be perfectly adult. 



Should further comparisons show the California mole to be distinct from the Oregon one, the 

 diagnosis will probably be : 



Scalops californicus. Size less than in S. townsendii; palms, tail, and muzzle thicker ; nostrils 

 more terminal. Color, light sooty brown, glossed with silvery ; lighter and clearer beneath. 

 Tail rather hairy ; the hairs rather long. 



Dr. Ayres speaks of the California mole as differing from S. townsendii in size and color ; as 

 described by him, (dark glossy brown, almost black,) the difference is less than I have made it 

 from alcoholic specimens. 



I am not prepared to admit the Scalops aeneus of Mr. Cassin as distinct from S. townsendii. 

 The smaller size would belong to a young specimen, and the peculiar combination of the brassy 

 color wii,h the black nails and feet might be the natural result of long immersion of the animal 

 in alcohol. The dentition is the same with that of S. townsendii. 



The Talpa taeniata of Leconte, founded on the specimen from Oregon, figured by Audubon 

 as having a light stripe on the belly, does not possess sufficient characters for a specific separa 

 tion. As is well known, the moles, both of Europe and America, are liable to these irregu 

 larities of coloration ; a specimen of the closely allied S. breweri is irregularly blotched in 

 various parts of the body with white, as also one of S. aquaticus, (see page 61.) 



The difference in dentition between this species and 8. aquaticus is too great to require any 

 special comparison. From S. breweri, with the same number of teeth, it differs in having the 

 anterior middle incisor considerably broader, shorter, and more chisel-shaped ; the most poste 

 rior premolar is much larger and more trenchant, resembling the molars, and viewed laterally, 

 actually larger than the most posterior molar ; in S. breweri this tooth has the crown but little 

 longer and no Avider than the canine. There is a corresponding difference in the lower jaw. 



Measurements (specimens in alcohol.} 



