110 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 75 



Sylvilagus dicei 

 Dice's Cottontail, Conejo 



Dice's cottontail is restricted to elevations above 1,100 m in the Cordillera 

 de Talamanca of Costa Rica and adjacent west-central Panama. There are no 

 recognized subspecies of Sylvilagus dicei. Sylvilagus dicei originally was described 

 by Harris (1932) based on specimens from El Copey de Dota in the Cordillera 

 de Talamanca. Most subsequent authors have followed Hershkovitz (1950) in 

 regarding dicei as a subspecies of S. brasiliensis; however, Diersing (1981) recently 

 demonstrated that this is a separate species of cottontail rabbit. 



We observed at night a single cottontail rabbit on a trail near the 2,600-m base 

 camp. Although there are no specimens of cottontail rabbits from Parque Nacional 

 Braulio Carrillo, based on their known distribution and systematics, rabbits at lower 

 elevations are probably S. brasiliensis and those at higher elevations probably are 

 5. dicei. Dice's cottontails are an important component of the diet of coyotes (Canis 

 latrans) in the Costa Rican highlands (Vaughan and Rodriguez 1986). 



ORDER RODENTIA 



Family Sciuridae 



Microsciurus alfari 

 Alfaro's Pygmy Squirrel, Ardilla or Chiza 



Alfaro's pygmy squirrels are found from southern Nicaragua to northwestern 

 Colombia. Three subspecies are known from lower and middle elevations of north- 

 eastern Costa Rica: Microsciurus alfari alfari (the subspecies occurring at La Selva), 

 M. a. alticola, and M. a. septentrionalis . A fourth subspecies, M. a. browni, is 

 found in the southwestern lowlands. 



Pygmy squirrels have been noted at La Selva on 12 occasions; on 4 observa- 

 tions, 2 squirrels were seen together and the remaining 8 observations were of 

 lone individuals. In February 1985, a pygmy squirrel was seen feeding on the fruit 

 of Dipteryx panamensis, a common canopy tree at La Selva. A semiplumbeous 

 hawk {Leucoptemis semiplumbea) was seen diving at, but missing, a pygmy squirrel 

 in April 1982. In January 1987, we watched 2 individuals as they spent 10 min 

 moving about on lianas attached to a huge Ceiba pentandra. They descended and 

 crossed the ground to an adjacent tree. Pygmy squirrels were observed by the 1983 

 Zona Expedition (Pringle et al. 1984). 



Specimens examined (2)— Rio Sarapiqui, Puerto Viejo, 300 ft [1 male, 

 UMMZ]; La Hondura, Province San Jose [1, UMMZ; Harris 1943]. 



Sciurus granatensis 

 Tropical Red-tailed Squirrel, Ardilla or Chiza 



Tropical red-tailed squirrels range from Costa Rica south to Ecuador and 

 Venezuela (Fig. 87). Two subspecies are now recognized from Costa Rica: Sciurus 

 granatensis hoffmanni in the central highlands and S. g. chiriquensis in the 



