MAMMALS OF MARYLANB 



EASTERN WOOD RAT 



Neotoma floridana magister Baird 



N\^eotoma\, magister Baird, Mammals, in Kepts. Expl. Surv. . . , 

 8 (1): 498, 14 July 1858. 



Type locality. — Cave near Carlisle, Cumberland County, or near Harrisburg, 

 Dauphin County, Pa. 



General distribution. — Appalachian Mountain region, from extreme western 

 Connecticut and southern New York, south through western Virginia and Ten- 

 nessee to the Tennessee River in northern Alabama, west to central Kentucky 

 and northward to extreme southern Indiana. 



Distribution m Maryland. — The Allegheny Mountain and Ridge 

 and Valley sections ; occurs east of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the 

 Piedmont section along the cliffs and bluffs of the Potomac River to 

 the vicinity of Washington, D.C. It may occur among the cliffs and 

 bluffs of river valleys elsewhere in the Piedmont section. 



Distinguishing characteristics. — Teeth 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3, = 16; 

 size large; coloration grizzled grayish dorsaUy, with some buffy 

 intermixture, paler and more buffy on sides; underparts and feet 

 white; ears large and naked; tail long, hairy, and distinctly bicolored, 

 black dorsaUy and white underneath; vibrissae very long, and black 

 or white in coloration. The young are similar to the adults, but are 

 grayer. 



This species may be confused with the Norway rat, which it resem- 

 bles superficially. It may be distinguished from that species by its 

 larger naked ears, its much longer vibrissae, its longer, more hairy, 

 and bicolored tail, and its softer, more grizzled grayish coloration. In 

 addition, the molar teeth of the two species differ. In the eastern wood 

 rat the crowns are flat, with the enamel thrown into prismatic folds; 

 in the Norway rat the molars are tuberculate. 



Measurements. — An adult male from 9 miles E of Oldtown, Al- 

 legany County, measures as follows : Total length 430 ; tail 188 ; hind 

 foot 42; ear 30; greatest length of skull 56.2; interorbital breadth 

 6.8 ; length of nasals 21.5 ; length of molar toothrow 9.3. 



Hamilton (1943, p. 306) gives the following external measurements 

 for 10 adults from New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia : Total 

 length 423 (405-441) ; tail 186 (170-200) ; hind foot 43.5 (40^6). 



Habitat and habits. — The eastern wood rat prefers cliffs, rock slides, ' 

 caves, and bare patches in the mountainous regions of the State. It 

 ranges into the Piedmont section at least in the Potomac River Valley, 

 where it lives in the cliffs and rocks that border the river. It may occur 

 in the bluffs that border other rivers in the Piedmont section, and has 

 been reported from Woodside, Montgomery County (Wetmore, 1923, 

 p. 187). In the Potomac River Valley, it has been found as far south 



