RACCOONS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 63 



Color. — Upper parts in general coarsely grizzled iron grayish, the 

 median dorsal area faintly suffused with pale buff, becoming pro- 

 nounced on back of neck, rather thinly overlaid with black; top of head 

 gray, mixed with black, producing a grizzled effect; face with solid 

 black mask; white facial markings as usual in the group; under parts in 

 general overlaid with very pale buffy grayish, the brown undertone 

 showing through; throat patch blackish; ears grayish, with rather 

 small black patches at posterior base; limbs similar to under parts, but 

 becoming whitish on feet; hind legs with small, pure brownish areas on 

 outer side near heels; tail with the usual annulations and black tip, 

 the light rings pale cream buff and the narrower dark rings (6 to 7) 

 consisting of black-tipped hairs with an underlying buffy suffusion; 

 dark rings less evident on under side of tail and scarcely complete, 

 tending to fade out on median line, except near tip. 



Cranial characters. — Skull similar to that of P. I. pallidus, but brain 

 case and interorbital region broader; frontals rising higher anteriorly, 

 the upper outline a more evenly convex curve — anterior frontal outline 

 descending in a more nearly straight line from apex immediately 

 behind postorbital processes" in paliidus] dentition about the same. 

 Compared with that of P. I. psora the skull is less flattened, the frontal 

 region more highly arched; bi-ain case rather broad and other cranial 

 details much as in psora. 



Measurements. — Type: Total length, 913 mm.; tail vertebrae, 335; hind foot, 

 132. Skiill: Type: Greatest length, 122.1; condylobasal length, 115.5; zygomatic 

 breadth, 77.9; interorbital breadth, 24.3; lea.st width of palatal shelf, 16.7; maxil- 

 lary tooth row (alveoli), 4-1.1 ; upper carnassial, crown length, 8.8, crown width, 9.3. 



Remarks. — Raccoons are dependent upon water for existence, and 

 owing to exceedingly arid conditions in the central section of Baja 

 California their general range is interrupted for considerable distances. 

 The form here described, which occupies the southern half of the 

 peninsula, differs rather markedly in combination of characters from 

 both of the more northern subspecies, P. I. psora and P. I. pallidus. 

 It requires no very close comparison with P. I. mexicanus of the 

 adjacent mainland of Mexico, which in general, is paler, with the black 

 postauricular spots obsolescent, and skull notably depressed in frontal 

 region. 



Specimens examined. — Total number, 11, as follows: 



Baja California, Mexico: La Paz (type locality), 3;'^- Mount Miraflores, 3; ^3 

 San Ignacio, 5. 



32 One (skull only) in Mus. Vert. Zool. 



33 Two in Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



