2 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 66 



locality. When more than one species or subspecies is represented on a 

 single map, circles and triangles are used to distinguish them, and the 

 crosshatchings representing their probable distributions run in dif- 

 ferent directions. 



I want to express my thanks to Theodore A. Bookhout and Vagn 

 Flyger of the University of Maryland's Natural Resources Institute 

 for contributing a number of Maryland mammal records. I also want 

 to acknowledge my gratitude to the late Romeo Mansueti of the 

 Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Md., for his encourage- 

 ment and advice on a number of distributional problems. 



LOCATION AND AREA OF 

 MARYLAND 



Maryland lies between the parallels of 35° 53' and 39° 44' north 

 latitude and the meridians 75° 4' and 79° 29' west longitude. It is 

 bounded on the north by the State of Pennsylvania and on the east by 

 the State of Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean. The southern boundary 

 of the State is the Potomac River which separates it from Virginia and 

 West Virginia. West Virginia also borders Maryland on the west. The 

 District of Columbia is a political entity on the Potomac, between 

 Prince Georges and Montgomery counties, Maryland. It is not physio- 

 graphically distinct from Maryland in any way, and herein is regarded 

 as a part of Maryland. 



The Maryland Geological Survey lists the total area of the State as 

 12,300.21 square miles, of which 2,437 square miles are water. Thus the 

 total land area of Maryland is 9,863.21 square miles, making the State 

 the eighth smallest in the Union. The area of the District of Columbia 

 is some 70 square miles, of which 8 are water. 



Maryland extends in a general ESE-WNW direction for about 320 

 miles; the greatest north-south distance is approximately 150 miles. 

 The State is actually a narrow cross section of the Coastal Plain, 

 the Piedmont Plateau, and the Appalachian ridges. Elevations pass 

 gradually from sea level to 3,342 feet on Backbone Mountain in Garrett 

 County. 



Geologically, Maryland varies greatly. Formations range from the 

 most ancient granite and gneiss, through rocks of every age and great 

 mineralogical diversity down to the coastal deposits of Recent times. 

 Overlying these rock formations are a great diversity of soils. In con- 

 trast to its more northern neighbors, Maryland has never been 

 glaciated. 



