MnmmaJs from Salta^ N. Argentina. 215 



2. Nycttnomus h'asiUensis, Geoff. 



a-c. Cafayati, Salta. 



It seems probable that this common bat is Azara's " Petite 

 Chauve-souris obscure" (Cliauve-souris neuvibine), to wliich, 

 fortunately, Geoftroy did not give a Sjjecial name, referring it 

 (wrongly) to his own ^foIossus obscurus. That Azara's bat 

 was a Ni/ctinomns is clear from his statement that " La Ihvre 

 superieure a des plis verticaux." 



3. PhijUotis griseojlavus, Waterh. 



a. Upper Cachi, Salta. 



b. Lower Cachi. 



This handsome rat was first recorded from the north 

 (Jiijuy) by Matschie, who was, however, naturally doubtful 

 of its identity with a species described from such a distant 

 locality as Rio Negro, Patagonia, the type locality of 

 Waterhouse's animals. After the most careful com])arison of 

 these 8alta examj)lcs with the type, and with a skin from 

 Catamarca in the Museum collection, I am still of the opinion 

 I expressed when Dr. Matschie's specimen was sent to 

 London for examination, that the northern and southern 

 forms cannot be separated. 



Moreover, the examination of several recent collections 

 shows that there is a most remarkable affinity between the 

 faunas of the extreme north-west part of Argentina, including ' 

 the neighbouring parts of Bolivia, even up to considerable 

 altitudes, and that of North-eastern Patagonia, so far at least 

 as Bahia Blanca and the Rio Negro are concerned. Thus I 

 have lately seen a small collection from Bahia Blanca, and 

 among them is a cavy which I cannot distinguish from 

 Cavi'a boliviensis, Waterh., first described from the high land 

 between Cochabamba and La Paz, Bolivia, while there is 

 in the same collection an example of Oryzomys laucJia, Desm., 

 whose typical locality is Paraguay, but specimens of which 

 were obtained by Dr. Borelli at Tala, Balta, and other 

 localities in the present region. The Museum possesses both 

 the cavy and the Phyllotis from Catamarca, and the Laucha 

 has been taken all down the Parana to its mouth, where, at 

 La Plata, I have found it abundant. 



It would seem therefore that many of the Pampas animals 

 extend north and south for a very great distance without 

 any appreciable modification, ascending in the north to 

 latitudes at which they no doubt find a very similar 

 climate to that of the lowlands in the southern parts of their 

 range. For this reason, when working out specimens coming 

 from Bolivia, Argentina, or Patagonia, it must not be too 



15* 



