534 



TiKl'ORT OF STATK (}EOL()(}IS'I\ 



anatomical characters. The genus can be readily distinguished 

 from those others found in the United States by its smaller size. 

 The species of this genus are the common rabbits or cottontails of 

 central North America. About fifty species and subspecies are 

 known, all of them being found in North America. Apparently 

 only one form occurs in Indiana. 



SYLVILAGUS FLORIDANUS MEARNSI (Allen). 

 COMMON RABBIT; PRAIRIE COTTONTAIL. 



Lepus sylvaticus mearnsi Allen, Bull. Amer. ]\Ius. Nat. Hist., 

 Vol. 6, p. 171, 1894. 



Lepus sylvaticus Evermann and Butler, Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. 

 for 1893, p. 125. 



Lepus fioridanus transitionalis McAtee, Proc. Biol. Soc, Wash- 

 ington, Vol. 20, p. 5, 1907. 



Lepus fioridanus mearnsi Hahn, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 32, 

 p. 462, 1907. 



Diagnostic characters. — Hind foot about four inches; rump 

 paler than back ; no dark spot on top of the head between the ears. 



Description. — General color of back decidedly brown, with a 

 mixture of black and gray-tipped hairs. Underneath white, with 

 a brown band across the chest. Bars without distinctly blackish 

 margins. The subspecies tra}isitionalis, with a more northern range, 

 differs from the above in being slightly smaller, with more black- 

 tipped hairs on the back, the brown being also deeper and richer; 

 the ears are more thickly furred and have l)lackish margins, and 

 there is a distinct black spot between them. The subspecies mallu- 

 riis, which may be found to occur in the southern part of the State, 

 is also smaller, with shorter, coarser, duller colored hair and the 

 rump nearly as dark as the back. 



MeasurcnK nfs. — Ten specimens from IMitchell average: Total 

 length, 435 nnii. (17]/> in.) ; tail, 50 mm. (2 in.) ; hind foot, 95 

 mm. (3 13/16 in.) ; ear, 69 mm. (2 13/16 in.). 



Skull and teeth. — The skull does not differ greatly from those 

 of the closely related forms. However, the skull and teeth of rab- 

 bits differ from those of other rodents in several characters not 

 yet pointed out. The skull is very long and the rostrum is quite 

 deep as compared with the shallow braincase. The sides of th(» 

 rostrum (maxillary bones) are perforated by many holes, which 

 t^ive it a lattice-like appearance. 'I'lie ventral surface of the skull 

 is also i-emarkably open, the pahilal I'egion Ixiing oceu[)ie(l by the 

 very larj^-e incisive foramina, Tfie in1er()rl)ital foramen is large, so 



