320 New Species of Aplodontia. 



Geographical Distribution. — Very little can be said concerning 

 the geographical distribution of Aploclontia major, since the only 

 known specimens came from Placer County, California.* The 

 animals mentioned by Mr. Allen as having been taken in Marin 

 County, may or may not belong to the present form. The same 

 remark applies to a species of Aplodontiu which, as I am told by 

 Mr. C. H. Townsend, who has recently visited the region, inhab- 

 its portions of Siskiyou and Lassen Counties, in the northern 

 part of the State, where, also, it is called ' Mountain Beaver' by 

 the hunters. Unfortunately, no specimens were obtained. 



Mr. S. K. Lum, in an article on the habits of Aploclontia 

 rufa, states : "In Southern Oregon, it is found in moist situa- 

 tions on the tops of the Siskiyou and Rogue's River Mountains, 

 and is there called ' mountain beaver.' "f In the absence of spe- 

 cimens, it is impossible to say to what species these animals per- 

 tain. The localities mentioned, however, are not far distant 

 from Coquille, Coos County, Oregon, where Dr. Mattesun has 

 obtained specimens of A. rufa § 



In the present state of knowledge, it is safe only to say that 

 representatives of the genus Aploclontia inhabit the Pacific coat-t 

 region from about lat. 50°, in British Columbia, southward at 

 least to lat. 38° 35', in central California. The geographical 

 dL-tribution of these animals is peculiar : like the Columbia 

 deer, and certain birds, they are restricted on the East by the 

 eastern bases of the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada Mount- 

 ains ; while on the West they extend nearly or quite to the 

 coast. 



HISTORY AXD NOMENCLATURE. 



The present species, fortunately, is not encumbered with a 

 long, involved synonymy; and its history is simple. 



* Since this article has been put in type, the U. S. National Museum has 

 received two imperfect skins of my new species from Lieut. P. H. Ray, 

 who obtained them from the Indians in Hoopa Valle} r , in northwestern 

 California. 



f American Naturalist, Vol. XII, 1878, p. 10. 



§ Ibid, Vol. XI, 1877, p. 434. 



