1915.] 



MARMOTA CALIGATA GROUP. 



71 



Distribution. — Vancouver Island, British Columbia; apparently not 

 generally distributed, and known at present only from ''the moun- 

 tains at the head of China Creek, some 20 miles south of Alberni, in 

 the Golden Eagle Basin, and King Solomon Basin, and on the sur- 

 rounding slopes and ridges." ^ 



Characters. — Size of M. caligata cascadensis; color uniformly dark 

 brown; skull relatively narrow with peculiarly shaped nasals. 



Color. — Entire body, legs, and tail dark Vandyke brown, . the 

 underfur being of the same color, the long hairs more blackish and 

 glossy; sides of nose and chin soiled whitish; underparts sometimes 

 irregularly blotched vv^th white, and back rarely with a few scat- 

 tering white hairs; feet glossy blackish brown. In worn pelage the 

 upperparts and tail fade to sayal bro^ni or clay color. 



Slcull. — Similar to that of cascadensis, but smaller and relatively 

 narrower; zygomata less widely expanded; premaxillae relatively 

 wider; nasals deeply emarginate posteriorly, the frontals projecting 

 forward and forming a V-shaped notch between nasals; incisors 

 white or yellowish white. 



Measurements. — Adult male:^ Total length, 660-710 (average, 

 684); tail vertebrae, 200-300 (222); hind foot, 90-102 (98.4). Adult 

 female: 3 680-720 (700); 210-240 (225); 100-105 (102.5). Shull: 

 Adult male:^ Condylo-basal length, 98-103.2 (99.9); palatal length, 

 57-59.5 (57.8); postpalatal length, 36.5-39.5 (37.8); length of nasals, 

 40-42.7 (41.4); zygomatic breadth, 64.2-65.5 (64.7); breadth across 

 mastoids, 45.7-47 (46.1); least interorbital breadth, 23.2-24.4 (24); 

 breadth of rostrum, 22-24 (22.9); maxillary tooth row, 23.6-24.7 

 (24.1). Adult female:^ Condylo-basal length, 93.7-96.6 (95.2); 

 palatal length, 54-54.3 (54.2); postpalatal length, 35.2-37.5 (36.3); 

 length of nasals, 39-39.6 (39.3); zygomatic breadth, 61.6-62.6 (62.1); 

 breadth across mastoids, 44; least interorbital breadth, 21.7-23 



(22.3) ; breadth of rostrum, 21.5-21.6; maxillary tooth row, 23.1-23.7 



(23.4) . 



Remarks. — This peculiar marmot, although clearly related to the 

 mainland species {caligata) has, through isolation, developed striking 

 characters, both external and cranial. The tendency of isolated 

 coastal forms in this group to become brown (shown in a lesser 

 degree by M. caligata vigilis and M. olympus) has reached the greatest 

 extreme in this species, the black colors of the mainland forms being 

 entirely lacking and the white reduced to scattering hairs. 



1 Swarth, H. S. Loc. cit., X, 1912, p. 89. 



2 Five specimens from vicinity of type locality. 



3 Two specimens from vicinity of type locality. 

 < Four specimens from vicinity of type locality. 



