﻿20 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



1^0. 10. 



BLARINA BERLANDIERI Baird. Rio Grande Blarina. 

 PI. 3, figs. 3, 7, 10, 14. 

 1857. Blarina derlandieri Baird, Mammals N. Am., 1857, 53-55. 



Type locality. — Matanioras, Tamaulipas, Mexico. 



GeofpxqjMc (Ustrihution. — Lower Rio Grande Valley, on both sides of 

 tlie river, and probably the coast region of southern Texas also. Limits 

 of range unknown. 



General characters.— -^ize a little larger than B. parva ; pelage rela- 

 tively short; upper lateral incisors long and nearly vertical. 



Color. — Upper parts in summer ash brown, with a ^pepper and salt' 

 appearance; tips of hairs in winter pelage almost chestnut; under 

 j)arts grayish. 



Cranial and dental characters. — The upper part of the rostrum seems 

 to be a little more swollen in herlandieri than in parva, but it is almost 

 impossible to separate the two by cranial characters. The lateral ui:)per 

 incisors (i^ in particular), when unworn, are higher and more vertical 

 in herlandieri^ as shown in pi. 3, fig. 3, contrasted with that of parva^ pi. 

 3, fig. 2. The best character 1 have discovered is the shape of the pos- 

 terior border of the upper molars. In B. parva the hinder border of m^ 

 and m^ is deeply excavated, much as in the large iDremolar ; in B. herlan- 

 dieri the premolar is much the same, but m^ and m^ are only slightly 

 concave behind. In young specimens the large size of the second uni- 

 cuspid is usually marked, contrasted with B. parva. 



General remarks. — I have comj)ared a series of specimens from Browns- 

 ville, Tex., with Baird's types from Matamoras (on the Mexican side of 

 the river) and find no difterences whatever. One of Baird's si)ecimens 

 (]^o. 1794) is young and has unworn teeth. The lateral incisors (first 

 and second unicuspids) are very long and rather slender, and the apex 

 of the second curves slightly backward. This is the specimen figured 

 by Dobson in his Monograph of the Insectivora, Part III, fasc. 1, PI. 

 XXIY, fig. 7. It is closely matched by one of our specimens from 

 Brownsville (Xo. 48810). In the other specimens the tip is worn off, 

 and consequently is not recurved. Whether herlandieri is more than a 

 subspecies of parva can not be determined from the material at hand. 



It is an interesting coincidence that the character of most weight 

 separating herlandieri from parva is shared by floridana, namely, the 

 shallow emargination of the x)osterior border of m^ and m^. 



Measurements (taken in flesh). — Average of 6 specimens from Browns- 

 ville, Tex. (on opposite side of river from type locality) : Total length, 

 83 mm. ; tail vertebrae, 19 mm. ; hind foot, 12 mm. 



Specimens examined. — Total number, 8, from the following localities: 



Matamoras, Tamaulipas, Mexico (type locality), 2. 



Brownsville, Tex,, 5. 



San DiegO; Duval County, Tex., 1. 



