﻿14 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[Xo. 12. 



. of the early part of the present century, but of late all traces have dis- 

 appeared. Lataste (Le Katuraliste, Tome II, p. 173, 1882), after a long 

 and fruitless search, concluded that the name had probably never been 

 published, and that the references of the older authors were merely to 

 Link's manuscript. Mr. Oldfield Thomas has discovered Link's book 

 and finds that the genus Lemmus contained the species socictlis, kigurus^ 

 lemmiis^ torquatus, glareoJus, and hndsooiius,^ rei)resentiug the modern 

 genera Jjemmus^ Dicrostonyx^ Microtns, and Evotomys. As the name 

 Lemmus has been restricted by subsequent authors to the species 

 lemmus and its near allies, a group to which no other generic name has 

 been specially applied, it must be retained in this sense.^ 



Mierotus Schrank, 1798 (Fauna Boica, p. 72), included M. terrestris, 

 M. amj^liihius { — M. terresiris Linn.), and M. <■ gregarius.' The Mierotus 

 terrestris of Schrank is not the Mus terresiris of Linnanis, but the com-, 

 mon fiehl mouse of Central Europe, Mierotus arralis (Pallas). .1/. gre- 

 garius Schrank, apparently based on one siDecimen from Bettbrunn, is 

 probably a young 21. arvalis. The third species, M. am2)]iiMus, is the 

 water rat, Mierotus terrestris (LinUcPus). Thus the genus Mierotus 

 originally contained two species, arvalis and terrestris. As the latter 

 was made the type of Arrieola by Lacepede in 1801, arredis must be 

 taken as the type of 2[ierotus. 



Fiber Cuvier, described in 1 798 but not named antil 1800 (Tabl. ]5lem. 

 de THist. Nat. d. Anim, 111, 1798; Leyons d'Anat. Comp. I, Tabl. I, 

 1800), is the first and only generic name based exclusively on the musk- 

 rat. Cuvier, in establishing this genus, eliminated Fiber zibethieus from 

 Myoeastor, and thus fixed the latter name on M. coypu. (See page 13.) 



ArvicoJa Lacepede, 1801 (Mem. de I'lnst., III., Paris, 1801, 489 3), was 

 based on Arrieola amptnbius [ = 2fus terre^^tris Linn.) alone, and not on 

 the European voles in general, as often supposed.^ Although the name 

 Arrieola can not be used in a generic sense, it is available for the sub- 

 genus of which Mierotus terrestris is the type. 



Hypudanis Illiger, 1811 "(Prodr. Syst. Mamm. et Avium, ]). 87), con- 

 tained the species lemmus, amvhihius {=terrestris), and arralis, or the 

 modern genera Lemmus and Mierotus. As no type was designated, and 



1 Mr. Thomas has kindly sent me a copy of the ori^^inal diagnosis. It is as follovrs: 



Gen. 8 Lemmus, Lemming. Die Thiere dieses Geschlechts kommeu mit den vorigen 

 [J/j<s] sehr neherein, aber die Ohren sind viel kleiner nnd abgerundet, der Korper 

 gedrungener, die Beine verhiiltnissmiissig kiirzer, der Schwanz sehr knrz. Aueh. 

 ^Yeichen sie in der Lehensart von den vorigen ah. Sie niihern sich Arctomys. Hieher 

 gehoren: JTus soclalis, lagunis, lemmus, forquatus, glareolus, liudsojiius." 



' See note on the names Brachyurus, Myodes, Rypudcvus, and Lemmus, in Actes de la 

 Societe Scientifique du Chili, Tome \, pp. XX, XXI, 1895. 



3 This is sometimes quoted: ''Tableau des divisions, etc., de la class des mammi- 

 leres, 1799." The paper ^vas "lu le 21 prairial an. 7,"' though not published until 1801. 



^Lacepede's description is as follows: "14 Campaguol. Deux iucisives superieurs 

 non comprim^es; deux incisives inferieurs tranchantes ; molaires sillonn^es; i)oint 

 d'abajoues; queue velue. Campagnol aquatique — Arvicola amphibius." 



