No. 8 NEW RACCOONS FROM FLORIDA NELSON 7 



The western, or Gulf, shores of all the large keys are bordered by 

 a practically continuous fringe of mangrove swamp but on the 

 Atlantic side occur sandy beaches often bordered by irregular series 

 of coconut palms, while scattered fan palms, often with trunks ten 

 to more than 25 feet long, are generally distributed in the interior. 



A large part of Big Pine Key is covered with a thin growth of 

 slender dwarfed pines and palmettos with scattered areas of deciduous 

 trees and bushes. The neighboring Little Pine, No Name, Torch, and 

 Ramrod Keys have smaller areas of pine forest. The interior of the 

 other keys to Key West have the deciduous species common to the 

 entire chain of keys, with the usual marginal mangrove swamps and 

 occasional sand beaches. 



The trappers informed me that the raccoons of the Florida Keys 

 go back inland from the mangrove swamps, where they generally 

 live, to feed on any ripening fruit that occurs. At the time of my 

 visit to Key Largo, a shrub about three feet high was laden with 

 clusters of dark fruit appearing, in color and shape, like huckle- 

 berries. Raccoons were feeding extensively on it. 



PROCYON LOTOR MARINUS subsp. nov. 

 Chokoloskee Raccoon 



Type. — From near Chokoloskee, Florida. No. 254989, J* adult, 

 U. S. National Museum, collected by E. W. Nelson, February 28. 

 1930. 



General characters. — A very small subspecies, the largest old male 

 in the series taken weighing 8 pounds. Duller grayish than P. I. clucus, 

 of adjacent mainland, with skull much smaller, more depressed on 

 frontal area and molariform teeth proportionately much heavier. 



Color. — Not very different from typical ehicus but averaging duller, 

 more grayish on upperparts owing to smaller amount of black tips to 

 overlying hairs ; rusty buffy nape patch averaging less strongly 

 marked, often obsolescent ; light rings on tail paler, less buffy yellow- 

 ish ; black mask more restricted with remainder of top and sides of 

 head paler. No indication of the generally rusty or dark buffy suf- 

 fusion covering entire upperparts frequently present, and sometimes 

 strongly marked, in specimens of clucus from the type region. 



Skull. — Much smaller and more delicately proportioned than in 

 clucus; frontal area much more depressed, braincase more rounded ; 

 last upper premolar and carnassial relatively, and sometimes actually, 

 larger ; palatal shelf about the same. 



