266 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4TH Serr. 
cisions of the reviser have been accepted. This has been the 
rule; but in a few instances, where the material at hand has 
seemed adequate, and where a sufficient amount of study has 
been accorded it to warrant, as it might seem, an independent 
opinion, this has been offered. Thus certain current names will 
be found synonymized, and other names not generally recog- 
nized are given full standing. 
It is quite probable that to the present list a number of forms 
are admitted, which subsequent collections and studies will 
show to be untenable. This is particularly likely in the Heter- 
omyidae. On the other hand, there doubtless remain many 
species and subspecies yet to be discovered and named; so that 
in time the total number of mammals known to belong to 
California is likely to remain undiminished. 
The point to be emphasized is that, both as regards the stand- 
ing of the species of our region, and as regards their distribu- 
tion, systematic mammalogy is in a formative stage. A very 
great amount of field-work and critical study must be done to 
bring mammalogy to the plane already reached in ornithology. 
The system of entry adopted in the following list is simple. 
Of the higher groups only Orders and Families are given. The 
scientific name here adopted for the species is given in bold- 
face, followed by the authority. A vernacular name has been 
selected—in many cases with difficulty, as is admitted. In 
nearly every case the “original description” has been verified 
from its original source. In the few instances where the cita- 
tion is given within quotation marks, the citation is at second- 
hand, that is, the original has not been seen by the writer. 
The type locality is usually just as given in connection with 
the original description; sometimes it is modified somewhat 
to make it more intelligible, for example, by giving the name of 
the county or of the nearest large town; and occasionally cor- 
rections have been necessary. 
The “‘synonyms” are any other names—aside from those 
appearing in the heading and in the citation following “orig- 
inal description”’—that have been applied to the species as 
occurring within the state of California. Where a name now 
considered synonymous with the accepted one, was based upon 
a specimen from California, the full citation and type locality 
are given. 
