1915.] 



SCALOPUS AQUATICUS AQUATICUS. 



35 



authority for the habitat of the species, Linnaeus cites Kalm, who saw 

 mole runways along the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. 



In 1771 Pennant^ described two abnormally colored or faded 

 specimens of this species under the names of '^Yellow Mole" and 



Brown Mole"; the yellow mole became Taljya eurofxa jiavescens at 

 the hands of Erxleben ^ in 1777, and the same year Zimmermann^ 

 named the yellow species Talpajlava and the brown one Talpafusca. 

 Geoff roy ^ described Scalopus virginianus in 1803, placing in synonymy 

 under it Talpa virginianus niger Seba and Sorex aguaticus Linnasus. 



The description given by Rafinesque ^ of Talpa cupreata is unsatis- 

 factory, but seems to apply to the subspecies S. a. aguaticus. The 

 synonymy of this form was still further encumbered when Desmarest ^ 

 proposed the name Scalops canadensis in 1820, apparently basing the 

 name upon ^^Le Scalope du Canada" of Cuvier and others. The last 

 specific name added to the synonymy of this form is Scalops pennsyl- 

 vanica Harlan;^ Harlan believed the structure of the molars in the 

 specimen he described to be different from that of S. aguaticus, but 

 his description applies very accurately to S. aguaticus except as to the 

 number of teeth, which he states to be forty; elsewhere, however, he 

 writes that ^Hhis species corresponds in the number and arrangement 

 of its teeth with the genus Scalops of F. Cuvier." ^ 



Scalopus aguaticus aguaticus, the common mole of northeastern 

 United States, in full winter pelage is the darkest of the genus. It is 

 subject to slight local variations in size and color, and even in cranial 

 characters, which, were they constant over any considerable geo- 

 graphic range, might be considered differential enough for subspecific 

 recognition. Specimens from Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket 

 Islands and from the mainland of southeastern Massachusetts aver- 

 age very slightly paler and smaller than typical aguaticus, and their 

 skulls are sUghtly shorter and relatively broader than those from 

 the type locality. Specimens from Liberty Hill, Conn., average 

 large; eastern New York specimens are much like those from the 

 vicinity of Philadelphia, Pa,, while those from Long Island are very 

 slightly smaller and possibly more grayish. Toward the south agua- 

 ticus gTadually decreases in size, intergrading with S. a. howelli in 

 northern and western North Carolina. A large series from the 

 District of Columbia averages smaller than specimens from the 

 type region, but in all essential characters except size they are 



1 Pennant, T., Quadrupeds, 1771. The writer has not had access to this publication, but presumes the 

 descriptions are about the same as those in Pennant's History of Quadrupeds, ed. 3, vol. 2, pp. 230, 232, 1793. 



2 Erxleben, J. C. P., Syst. Reg. Anim., p. 118, 1777. 



3 Zimmermann, E. A. W., Spec. Zool. Geog., pp. 496-497, 1777, 



4 Geofiroy Saint Hilaire, E., Cat. Mamm. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat., p. 78, 1803. 



5 Rafinesque, C, S., Precis des decouv. et trav. somiolog., p. 14, 1814. 



6 Desmarest, A. G., Mammalogie, part 1, p. 155, 1820. 

 ^ Harlan, R., Fauna Amer., p. 33, 1825. 



8 Harlan, loc. cit., p. 34, 1825. 



