1916] Taylor: Beavers of Western North America 471 



Siskiyou mountains is most closely allied to Aplodontia californica- 

 of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. On the other hand, the coast forms, 

 Aplodontia pacifica, found at Newport, mouth of Yaquina Bay, Lin- 

 coln County, Oregon, Aplodontia nigra, Point Arena, Mendocino 

 County, California, and Aplodontia phaca, Marin County, California, 

 would seem to be most closely related among themselves. 



OCHOTOXIDAE 



This small but interesting family is found only upon or near the 

 summits of the highest mountains in California. Three species are 

 represented within the state, Ochotona taylori, of the high peaks of 

 tin- Warner Mountains of northeastern California; Ochotona schisti- 

 ceps, of the central and northern Sierra Nevada; and Ochotona 

 alb at us, of the Mount Whitney region, southern Sierra Nevada. It is 

 not improbable that Ochotona taylori is more closely related to Ocho- 

 tona schisticeps of the region intervening than it is to Ochotona 

 albatus of the Mount Whitney region of the southern Sierra. 



Cervidae 



Odocoileus columbianus columbianus occupies the northwest coast 

 region of California and northward at least to the Columbia River. 

 It is found as far to the eastward in California as Mount Shasta and 

 extends through the inner coast mountains to the Sacramento Valley. 

 The Golden Gate, San Francisco Bay, separates it from the closely 

 related Odocoileus columbianus scaphiotus, which is found in the 

 Transition and Upper Sonoran zones southward through the Santa 

 Cruz district into Monterey and San Benito counties. 



Characteristic of the Sierra Nevada and the southern and desert 

 ranges within the state is the mule deer. Odocoileus hemionud 

 hemionus is found to be generally distributed in eastern California, 

 from the southern end of the High Sierra north to the northeastern 

 corner of the state. It comes in contact with Odocoileus columbianus 

 columbianus in the Shasta region, where there may be some overlap- 

 ping of range. From the Tehachapi Mountains (southern end of high 

 Sierra Nevada) westward through the Tejon region to the coast moun- 

 tains and southward to the Mexican line, west of the desert proper, 

 occurs Odocoileus hemionus californicus. There formerly occurred on 

 the deserts of southeastern California the burro deer, Odocoileus 

 In mil) ti us eremicus, but the subspecies seems now to be extinct north 

 of the Mexican line. These forms of the mule deer are very closely 

 related, and it is evident that they occupy adjoining ranges. 



