66 



NOKTH AMEEICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 38. 



tooth roWj 10.7 (10.4-10.9); mandibular molar-premolar row, 10.3 

 (10.1-10.5). Average of 5 skulls of adult females from»Nicasio, Cal. : 

 Greatest length, 36 (35.3-36.6); palatilar length, 14.1 (13.7-14.5); 

 mastoidal breadth, 16.9 (16.7-17.2); interorbital breadth, 7.7 (7.4- 

 8.1); maxillary tooth row, 11.1 (10.8-11.4); mandibular molar- 

 premolar rov/, 10.8 (10.3-11.1). 



Remarlcs. — Bachman's name latimanus was placed in synonymy 

 under Scapanus townsendii by Peters ^ where it remained until 

 Osgood showed that it did not apply to townsendii but to the mole of 

 west-central California, then known as Scapanus calif ornicus (Ayres). 

 Osgood writes : 



As stated by Peters (loc. cit.), it [the type specimen] was transmitted by Deppe 

 from Monterey, California. It was collected in October, 1834, at Santa Clara, not a 

 Mexican locality, ^ as suggested by Peters, but doubtless the town of that name in 

 California not very distant from Monterey. Only one species of mole is known to 

 occur at this locality, and the specimen is typical of this species. The hind foot to 

 end of claws measures 18.7 mm. The fragmentary skall, which Dr. Matschie caused 

 to be removed from the mounted specimen, presents the following measurements, all 

 decidedly smaller than S. townsendi: Length of upper tooth row from front of incisor 

 to back of last molar, 15.4; of lower tooth row, 13.7; outside width at second upper 

 molar, 10.2.3 



The measurements given by Osgood are somewhat less than those 

 of skulls of adults from the vicinity of Santa Clara, Cal., but this may 

 possibly be due to immaturity of the type specimen. The animal is 

 certainly not townsendii, and it seems best to accept Osgood's verdict 

 and place californicus in synonymy under latimanus. 



A skeleton * of this species in the United States National Museum 

 has been set aside as the type of Scalops californicus Ayres, and of it 

 Lyon and Osgood state: "This skeleton is one of Dr. Ayres's original 

 specimens, and probably the only one of them now in existence. It 

 seems well to treat it as a type, although it was not so indicated by 

 the original describer." ^ However, there seems to be no good reason 

 for designating this specimen as the type of californicus; it was 

 entered in the museum catalogue February 14, 1857, but in the col- 

 lection are two other specimens (alcoholic) which Lyon and Osgood 

 apparently overlooked. One ^ of these, without the date of collec- 

 tion, was entered in the catalogue May 4, 1857; the other, ^ collected 

 several weeks after Ayres had read his description before the Cali- 

 fornia Academy of Sciences, was entered in the museum catalogue 



1 Peters, W., Monatsber. Konig. Preuss. Akad. Wissensch., Berlin, 1863, p. 656, 1864. 



2 At the time the specimen was collected California was part of Mexico. Peters, however, states "in Sta. 

 Clara (Sonora?) gesammelt worden." 



3 Osgood, W. H., Proc. Biol. See. Washington, vol. 20, p. 52, 1907. 



* No. 3111, U. S. Nat. Mus., skeleton (lacking right manus and forearm, and left last upper molar); col- 

 lected at San Francisco, Cal., by Dr. W. O. Ayres. « 



5 Lyon, M. W., and Osgood, W. H., U. S. Nat. Mus., Bui. 62, p. 234, 1909. 



6 No, 2673, U. S. Nat. Mus., alcoholic; collected at San Francisco, Cal., by Dr. W. O. Ayres. 



T No. 1288, U. S. Nat. Mus., alcoholic; collected at San Francisco, Cal., September, X855, by Dr. W. O. 

 Ayres. 



