194 



U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



MEPHITIS OCCIDENTALS, Baird. 



California Skunk. 



? Mephitis mtiomtlas, ST. HILAIRE, Voy. de la Venus, Zoologie, I, 1855, 133; plate. 



Sp. CH. Size of a cat. Tail vertebra two-thirds the length of head and body. Bony palate with small narrow emargination 

 in the middle of its posterior edge. Color black, with a white nuchal patch, bifurcating behind and reaching to the tail, which 

 is entirely black. 



Judging from the skull this animal must have been of very large size, considerably exceeding 

 the average of North American specimens. The nose is large and broad, the hairs come on the 

 upper side to within about a quarter of an inch of the end, the nostrils, however, are terminal 

 and entirely lateral. The feet are very large and broad, considerably exceeding corresponding 

 specimens of the common eastern species. The soles are hairy on their posterior third. The 

 tail appears to be about equal in length to the head and body. 



The color, as in most skunks, is black ; there is a narrow line of white on the forehead 

 between the eyes ; a nuchal patch commences back of the ears and extends to the shoulders, 

 then bifurcates into two narrow lines, which extend along the side of the back, diverging most 

 in its middle portion, and approximating towards the base of the tail, opposite which it abruptly 

 ceases the two an inch or more apart. The exterior of the tail is entirely black ; the bases of 

 all the hairs are white, this color reaching nearer to the end of the hairs along the median 

 portion. A few scattered hairs, entirely white, are seen here and there, but they are not at all 

 prominent. 



This species bears a close resemblance to the Mephitis varians, but is considerably stouter 

 and thicker, with stronger and broader feet. The tail is much shorter, entirely black externally, 

 instead of being invaded in its middle portion by white. The skulls are quite different. M. 

 chinga has a much broader nuchal patch, a less continuous lateral stripe, a shorter tail, with a 

 white tip, not black ; it is also without the notch in the bony palate. 



This appears to be the animal that is figured in the Voyage de la Venus as the Mephitis meso- 

 melas of Lichtenstein. This cannot be the name, however, as the mesomelas is characterized 

 among all the skunks by the densely pilose soles, a feature wanting in the present specimen. 

 The description in the Voyage de la Venus makes no mention of the character of the soles. 



The skull of the California skunk, three of which are before me, has a peculiarity I have seen 

 in no others. The posterior margin of the palate is concave in its outline, with a decided emar 

 gination in the middle line, reaching nearly to the posterior edge of the last. molar. In all 

 others this outline is either transverse, or the palate extends further backwards in its middle 

 line than on the sides, making a cordate outline. 



Measurements. 



