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



List of specimens. 



SPERMOPHILUS LATERALIS. 



Say's Squirrel. 



Sciurus lateralis, SAY, Long's Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 46. (Arkansas river, lat. 38. 25 ; long. 105. 20; July 16.) 

 HAIU.AN, Fauna Amer. 1825, 181. 

 FISCHER, Synopsis, 1829, 350. 

 GODMAN, Am. Nat. Hist. II, 144. 

 GHIFFITH, Cuvier, V, 1827, 255. 



WAGNER, in Schreber Saugt. IV ; pi. ccxiv, B. (No text.) 

 Arctomys (SpermophHus) lateralis, RICH, Zool. Jour. Ill, April, 1828, 519. IB. Fauna Boreali-Americana, I, 1829, 



174 ; pi. xiii. 

 SpermophUus lateralis, F. CUT. Suppl. Buffon, I, Mam. I, 1831, 335. 



WAGNER, Suppl. Schreber Saugt. HI, 1843, 252. 

 ACD. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. HI, 1853, 62 ; pi. cxiv. 



Olospermophiltu lateralis, BRANDT, Bull. Phys. Math. Acad. St. Petersb. II, 1844, 379. 

 GIEBEL, Saugt. 1855, 638. 



SP. Cu. Ears conspicuous ; high. Tail, with hairs, more than half as long as head and body ; depressed. Middle region 

 of the back finely grizzled yellowish gray and black, without any lines ; on each side two distinct black stripes, enclosing a 

 yellowish white one, all of about the same diameter. Posterior half of the thigh and rump dark chestnut brown, without 

 stripes. Top of the head chestnut. Under surface of tail bright chestnut ; margined with brownish yellow, within which 

 ia a black band. Length about 7 inches ; tail, with hairs, about 4 ; hind foot, from heel, 1.42 inches. 



This animal is about the size of the small red squirrel, (Sciurus hudsonius) or perhaps less, 

 and in general appearance bears a strong resemblance to Tamias. The ears are quite broad and 

 high, rounded at tip, and thin, fully equal in size to those of Tamias striatus; they are coated 

 on both sides with short close hairs. The fore claws are but little longer than the hinder ones, 

 and are stouter at the base and more curved than usual among spermophiles. The thumb is 

 obsolete, and provided with a short, broad nail, not a claw. The soles are entirely naked from 

 the heel. The tail is short ; the vertebral portion about half as long as the head and body ; it 

 is rather broad and flattened. 



The most conspicuous feature of coloration consists in two broad stripes of black on each side 

 of the back, with a yellowish white line of equal width between each pair. These stripes ex 

 tend from the shoulders to the thighs, although there is an obsolete continuation of the light 

 line to the base of the ear. There is no line on the median region of the back, this being of a 

 finely grizzled yellowish and black. In the middle of the back this grizzled dorsal region is 



