1915.] 



THOMOMYS BOTTiE GKOUP. 



53 



THOMOMYS BOTT.E ANGULARIS Merriam. 

 Los Bangs Pocket Gopher 



(PI. Ill, fig. 7.) 



Thomomys angularis Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XI, 214, July 15, 1897. 



Type. — Collected at Los Banos, Merced County, California, by J. 

 Ellis McLellan, January 1, 1894. Type specimen in U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 Biological Survey collection. 



Distribution. — ^West side of San Joaquin Valley, Cal., from Tracy 

 south to Santiago Spring; also Santa Clara, San Juan, and Salinas 

 Valleys (fig. 6). 



CJiaracters. — Size large, hind foot in males averaging 33; ears 

 short and thick; color lighter and brighter than in hottx; skull short, 

 wide, angular, and heavily ridged; mammae in 4 pairs, inguinal 2-2, 

 pectoral 2-2. 



Color. — Summer pelage: Rich ochraceous-buff, slightly darkened 

 above with black-tipped hairs; ear patch black; nose and cheeks 

 dusky or brownish; lining of pockets, lips, and sometimes chin, 

 white; feet white; tip of tail nearly or quite naked. Winter pelage: 

 Considerably darkened above by excess of black-tipped hairs; 

 slightly paler below — not quite so black as hottse. 



SJcull. — Males: Relatively shorter, wider, more angular, and 

 more heavily ridged than in hottse, with high sagittal crest in adults; 

 nasals short and widely spatulate; incisors projecting about as in 

 hottx. Females: Much smaller, not ridged or angular; short and 

 wide with arched outline. 



Measurements. — Average of 6 topotypes ( ad.): Total length, 

 258; tail vertebrse, 80; hind foot, 33. Average of 4 topotypes 

 (9 ad.): 209, 66, 28.5. SluU (of type, small c? ad.): Basal length, 

 43; nasals, 15.7; zygomatic breadth, 28; mastoid breadth, 24; alveo- 

 lar length of upper molar series, 8.5. SliuU (of topotype, larger 

 (? ad.):i 45, 15, 31, 25^ 9. 



Remarlcs. — Specimens from the type locality of angularis show 

 strongly marked characters, and considered alone these would indi- 

 cate that this is a distinct species not closely related to hottse; others, 

 however, from the Santa Clara, San Juan, and Salinas VaUeys, while 

 nearest to angularis, show a tendency toward hottx in both external 

 and cranial characters, and suggest the probability of intergradation 

 along the sides of these valleys with the smaller, darker, slenderer- 

 skulled hottde. 



Specimens examined. — Total number, 101, as foUows: 

 California: Bitterwater, 17; Coalinga, 2; Del Monte (7 miles southeast, in 

 Salinas Valley), 5; Kings City, 1; Los Banos, 54; Palo Alto, 2; Paraiso 

 Spring, 1; Paso Robles, 4; Salinas, 2; San Benito, 3; San Miguelito, 1; 

 Santiago Spring, 2; Tracy (8 miles south), 7. 



No. 93787, U. S. Nat. Mus. 



