﻿20 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 11. 



Pig. 7. — Putorius longicauda. 



S. Dak. 



Fort Sisseton, 



1839. Futorins lo)if/icanda Rich. : Zool. Bcecliey's Voyai»e of Blossom, p. 10, -^ 18"0. 



1857. Baird: Mainiuals N. Am., pp. 169-171, 1857. 



1877. Cones: Fur-Beariiis>- Animals, pp. 136-142, 1877. 



1896. Bangs : Proc. Biol. Soc. AVasli., X, pp. 7-8, Feb. 25, 1896. 



Type locality. — Carlton House, on North Saskatchewan' River, 

 Canada. 



Geographic distribution. — Great Plains from Kansas northward. 

 General characters. — Size large (adult males averaging about 450 mm. 



in total length) ; tail very long (ver- 



^^.^-^ " y " tebra^. 155 mm. or more in males), 



its black tip rather short; under 

 parts always strongly yellowish or 

 ochraceous. 



Color. — Upper parts pale yel- 

 lowish brown, or pale raw umber 

 brown, becoming darker on head; 

 terminal part of tail black; chin 

 and upper lip all the way round 

 white; rest of under parts varying 

 from strong buffy yellow to ochraceous orange, the color extending from 

 throat x^osteriorly, including upper side of fore feet, inner side of hind 

 feet, and up])er side of hind toes; under side of tail more or less suffused 

 with yellowish; soles of hind feet brownish. In worn summer pelage 

 the color of ux)per parts is decidedly paler, and in some old specimens 

 the upper and lower snrfaces are not sharply differentiated. The 

 orange tinge of the under 

 parts is strongest on the 

 throat. 



Grama I C h a r acters , — 

 Skull large, broad, and 

 massive, with well-devel- 

 oped i)ostorbital proc- 

 esses, strongly marked 

 postorbital constriction, 

 and a moderate sagittal 

 crest; zygomata bowed 

 strongly outward; brain 

 case subtriangular as seen 

 from above ; audital bullae 

 rather broad and subrect- 

 angular; palate broad; 

 dentition heavy; audital bullae anteriorly rising abruptly from squa- 

 mosal, which is not inflated in either sex; skull of female similar to 

 male, but smaller, and with only a slight sagittal ridge. Contrasted 

 with male skulls of noveboracensis and tvashingtonij the male of longi- 

 cauda is broader and relatively shorter, with more spreading zygomatic 

 arches, longer postorbital processes, deeper postorbital cohstrictiouj 



YiGS. 8 and 9.-7'. longicauda </ ad. Fort Sissetoii, S. Dak. 



