﻿1)EC., 1895.] 



BLARINA TELMALESTES. 



15 



Co/or.— Upper parts uniform slate black, duller below; lacks the 

 sepia-browii tint of caroUnensis. 



Cranial and dental characters. — Q^vdl similar to that of B. caroUnen- 

 sis, but somewhat larger and heavier, with broader and more massive 

 pterygoids. The upper molariform teeth are decidedly larger, heavier, 

 and less emarginate posteriorly. The large upper premolar is broader, 

 especially in front, and differs in form from that of caroUnensis. 



Measurements (taken in flesh). — Type: Total length, 97 mm.; tail 

 vertebrie, 20 mm. ; hind foot, 13.5 mm. 



Average measurements of 6 specimens from peninsular Florida: 

 Total length, 97 mm.; tail vertebrte, 18.5 mm.; hind foot, 13.5 (or 

 14) mm. 



General remarhs. — Blarina peninsulw is the Tropical Florida repre- 

 sentative of the Austroriparian B. caroUnensis. It is common in the 

 Everglades, where Mr. Loring secured four specimens on Miami Eiver, 

 on the east coast, and one at Everglade (near Chocoloskee), on the west 

 coast. He also trapped one at Micco, Brevard County. 



BLARINA TELMALESTES 1 sp. nov. Dismal Swamp Blarina. 

 PL 2, fig. 5. 



Type from Lake Drummond, Dismal Swamp, Virginia. No. 71823, $ ad., U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., Department of Agriculture collection. Collected June 6, 1895, by A. K. 

 Fislier. Original number, 1775. 



Geographic distribution. — Dismal Swamp, Virginia. 



General characters. — Similar to B. hrevicauda, but more plumbeous in 

 color; hind feet relatively longer; skull narrower; molariform teeth 

 l)eculiar. Length of skull, including incisors, 24 mm. 



Color. — Uniform dark i)lumbeous or slate gray above and below, 

 slightly darker on the rump and nose; feet and tail blackish. 



Cranial and dental characters. — Compared with its nearest relative, 

 Blarina hrevicauda, the skull of B. telmalestes is narrower, less massive, 

 with less thickened anterior nares; the coloring on the teeth is paler and 

 much less extensive, not reaching the crowns of the teeth except on 

 the apices of the cusps ; the large upi)er premolar and molars, partic- 

 ularly m^, differ materially in shape, the postero-internal lobe being 

 much more broadly rounded and the posterior concavity much deeper. 

 The thickened angular cusp on the inner side is less marked and there 

 is a much more pronounced and thickened rim running round the pos- 

 terior lobe, defining a broad saucer-shaped depression. In actual size 

 the skull is slightly shorter than specimens of hrevicauda from Nebraska 

 and western Iowa, but it is longer than those from 'New England and 

 the Eastern States generally. 



General remarJcs. — From the standpoint of geographic distribution 

 Blarina telmalestes is by far the most interesting member of the genus. 

 While closely resembling the large B. hrevicauda in size and general 



1 Telmalestes, from reX/xa, swamp -f Xr]6T7]i, robber. 



