124 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 75 



Reithrodontomys creper 

 Chiriqui Harvest Mouse, Raton de la Cosecha 



Chiriqui harvest mice have been reported from the Cordillera Central of Costa 

 Rica, as far north as volcanos Irazii, Barva, and Poas, and southward through the 

 Talamancas to the Chiriqui highlands of western Panama (Fig. 97). Recently, we 

 have found Reithrodontomys creper to be abundant in the cloud forests above 

 Monteverde, Puntarenas Province, thus extending the known range of the species 

 farther north and west in Costa Rica into the Cordillera de Tilaran. Also, we have 

 caught R. creper at San Gerardo de Dota, San Jose Province, at 2,600 m in pastures 

 and in 5 -year-old scrub that had been pasture. These are high-elevation mice; 

 localities of capture range from 1,300 m near Angel Falls to more than 3,000 m. 

 Although Chiriqui harvest mice are not uncommon in the appropriate habitat, at 

 these higher elevations, rodents have not been studied intensively and little has 

 been published on their biology. This species seems to prefer pristine forest as 

 there have been few reports of it in second growth or disturbed habitats. There 

 are no subspecies of R. creper recognized. 



We encountered R. creper at 2,050 m in the park, and we suspect that it oc- 

 curs throughout much of the higher-elevation forests of Braulio Carrillo. Oryzomys 

 albigularis, Peromyscus nudipes, and Scotinomys teguina were the abundant small 

 mammals encountered along with R. creper at this site. Two adult females col- 

 lected on 17 and 20 April each carried three embryos, both had one embryo in 

 the left uterine horn and two in the right. Embryos from one female had crown- 

 rump lengths of 4 mm, those from the second had crown-rump lengths of 5 mm. 

 A third adult female was not pregnant. Three adult males had testes that measured 

 19x10 mm, 19x9 mm, and 15x9 mm. 



Specimens examined (5)— 5 km E of Vara Blanca, 2,050 m [3 males, 2 females, 

 FMNH]. 



Additional records (4)— Altos de Roble, S Fork Rio Las Vueltas, 1,450 m 

 [3, LACM]; 1.2 mi N of Angel Falls, 1,300 m [1, LACM]. 



Reithrodontomys rodriguezi 

 Rodriguez's Harvest Mouse, Raton de la Cosecha 



Reithrodontomys rodriguezi was described originally on the basis of two 

 subadult specimens from Volcan Irazii, Cartago Province, at 9,400 ft (2,865 m) 

 by Goodwin (1943). He described it as "A moderately large harvest mouse with 

 soft dense pelage, long unicolor tail, large ears and white underparts," and stated 

 that the holotype was taken in long grass at the edge of rain forest (Goodwin 1943: 1). 

 For the next four decades the species was not encountered again and remained 

 perhaps the most poorly known and enigmatic mammal of the country. Single 

 specimens are now known from Asuncion and Volcan Irazii, both in Cartago Prov- 

 ince (McPherson 1985). The presence of R. rodriguezi on Volcan Barva was noted 

 recently by Lumer and Schoer (1986), who felt that this was one of several species 

 of rodents that pollinated flowers of Blakea sp. 



We encountered R. rodriguezi at two localities on the northeastern slope of 

 Volcan Barva during the 1986 expeditions. Specimens were taken at elevations 



