164 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 69 



what problematical owing to the absence of adequate material for 

 comparison. The Middle American animal is much grayer above 

 than G. allamandi, as shown in the figure accompanying the descrip- 

 tion, 1 and the white of the frontal region passes rather gradually into 

 the grayish color of the top of the head, there being no sharp line of 

 demarcation as indicated in the figure of G. allamandi 

 Specimens examined: Cana, I. 



Genus CONEPATUS Gray. Skunks 

 In this genus of skunk the snout is very long, projecting well 

 beyond the lower jaw, with a large naked pad on the upper side. 

 The claws of the front feet are long and stout and the soles of the 

 hind feet are naked to the heels. The tail is rather short. The 

 skunks of the genus Conepatus are by their structure better fitted for 

 rooting in the ground than are the members of the more boreal 

 genera Mephitis and Spilogale. 



Subgenus MARPUTIUS Gray 

 CONEPATUS TROPICALIS TRICHURUS Thomas 



Panama Skunk 



Conepatus tropicalis trichurus Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 7, Vol. 15, 

 P- 585, June, 1905. Type from Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama (altitude 4,000 

 feet). 



The Panama skunk is described as apparently similar to Conepatus 

 tropicalis tropicalis of Mexico, but with a decidedly longer tail, the 

 black element of which is restricted to a shorter area at the base. 

 The white dorsal stripes are also represented as shorter. The fur 

 of the back is coarse, sparse, not very long and " less mixed with 

 wool-hairs than in C. mapurito " of South America. 



The species was based on five specimens from western Panama 

 and Costa Rica, of which the type was collected by H. J. Watson 

 on the Volcan de Chiriqui. 



Two specimens collected by W. W. Brown, Jr., at Boquete were 

 recorded by Bangs (1902, p. 48) as Conepatus mapurito. Under 

 the same name Allen (1904, p. 72) noted an example taken by 

 J. H. Batty at Boqueron. 



No skunks were met with by me in the Darien region of eastern 

 Panama, but native hunters reported their rare occurrence in the 

 vicinity of Cana. 



Specimens examined : Boqueron, 1 2 ; Boquete (type locality) , 2.' 



1 Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., Vol. 2, pp. 204-205, pi. 35, 1837. (Also described 

 in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1837, pp. 47-49.) 



2 Collection Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



3 Collection Mus. Comp. Zool. 



