318 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the upper austral zone, but such places may prove to be transition 

 'islands.' 



Habitat. Caves, overhanging cliffs and rocky mountain sides. 



Distribution in New York. The cave rat is not at present known to 

 occur in New York outside of the lower Hudson valley, though there is 

 reason to believe that it will be found at other localities along the 

 southern border of the state. 



Principal records. Baird : "A few specimens of unusually large size 

 were captured some years ago by Mr J. G. Bell near Pierpont on the 

 Hudson river " ('58, p. 489). Allen : " I have now to record the capture 

 of a specimen on Storm King mountain, Cornwall, Orange co. N. Y. 

 about 50 miles north of New York city and 40 miles north of Piermont. 



. . . The place of capture was at the base of a cliff 30 or 40 feet 

 in height at an elevation of about 1000 feet. The cliff is full of deep 

 crevices and has a talus of loose stones at its base " ('94 b, p. 362). 



Remarks. With regard to the relationship of this animal with the 

 fossil species found in the cave deposits of Pennsylvania Dr Mearns 

 writes : t( Mr Samuel N. Rhoads in a paper entitled 'A contribution 

 to the life history of the Alleghany cave rat, Neotoma ///agister 

 Baird' ['94], claims that the recent species described by Mr Witmer 

 Stone ['93 b] under the name Neotoma pennsylvanica is specifically 

 identical with the subfossil cave species named Neotoma ///agister 

 by Baird ['57, p. 4S6]. I am unable to concur in this opinion, for the 

 reason that a comparison of eight jaws — one upper and seven lower — 

 belonging to Baird's type series of his Neotoma ///agister differ in 

 important respects from a series of recent skulls ... of Neotoma 

 pennsylvanica Stone. . . In this comparison Neotoma ///agister proves 

 to have been a considerably larger and stouter animal than N penn- 

 sylvanica, the skull is relatively shorter . . . the mandibles are 

 deeper . . . the tooth row broader and longer ..." ('98 a, 

 p. 334-35). I have examined the specimens referred to by Dr Mearns and 

 see no reason to question his conclusion. Remains of Neotoma ///agister 

 are to be looked for in caves and rock fissures in southern New York. 



Evotomys gapperi gapperi (Yigors) Common red-backed mouse 



1830 Arvicola gapperi Vigors, Zool. journ., 5 : 204. 



1841 Arvicola fulvus Audubon & Bachman, Acad. nat. sci. Philadel- 



phia. Journ. 5 Oct. 1841. v. 7. pt. 2:295. 



1842 Arvicola rufescens De Kay, Zoology of New York, Mammalia. 



p. 85. 



