GOLDMAN — TWO NEW SKUNKS 
41 
forms a broad mantle reaching in some specimens well down along flanks. In 
some individuals there is a white spot on the throat, and the ears may be whitish. 
Specimens examined . — Total number, 22, from the following localities : 
Arizona: Blue River (type locality), 5; Ash Creek, Graham Mountains, 2; 
Black River, 1 ; Fort Huahuaca, 1 ; Fort Lowell, 1 ;* Fort Whipple (nearPrescott), 
1 ; La Osa, 1; McMillenville, 1 ; Nantan Plateau, 1 ; Raspberry Creek, Prieto Pla- 
teau, 1; Tucson, 1. 
New Mexico: Animas Valley, 1; Dry Creek, 1. 
Chihuahua: Colonia Garcia, 2. 
Sonora: Santa Cruz, 1; San Jose Mountains, 1. 
Conepatus mesoleucus nelson! subsp. nov. 
nelson’s hog-nosed skunk 
Type from Armeria (near Manzanillo), Colima, Mexico (altitude 200 feet). 
cf old adult, U. S. National Museum (Biological Survey Collection) 
collected by E. W. Nelson, March 3, 1892. Original number 2004. 
Distribution . — Region of the type locality in Colima and probably adjacent 
parts of western Mexico, Arid Tropical Zone. 
General characters . — Similar to C. m. mesoleucus ; general size and color about 
the same; skull narrower, less massive and differing in detail. 
Color . — About as in typical C. m. mesoleucus, the white dorsal area somewhat 
variable as in that form. In the type and in a specimen from Hacienda Magda- 
lena, Colima, the white extends entirely across the back near the middle, while 
in an example from Colima, Colima, the white area is considerably reduced 
in width. 
Skull . — Compared with that of C. m. mesoleucus the skull in both sexes is 
narrower, less massive, with smaller less inflated braincase, and less widely 
spreading zygomata; interorbital region narrower; sagittal and lambdoid crests 
in type (old male) high and trenchant; frontal region depressed and dentition 
rather heavy, much as in mesoleucus. 
Measurements (type). — Total length, 664; tail vertebrse, 287; hind foot, 88. 
Average and extremes of 2 adult females from Hacienda Magdalena and Colima, 
Colima, 593 (602-585) ; 251 (265-237) ; 75 (74-76). Skull (type) : Greatest length 
(median line), 78.2; condylobasal length, 74.8; zygomatic breadth, 52; width of 
braincase at constriction behind zygomata, 39.5; mastoidal breadth, 45.7; median 
width of interpterygoid fossa, 9; front of canine to back of large upper molar, 25; 
length of upper incisor series at cingula, 11.5. 
Remarks. — Conepatus mesoleucus nelsoni is a western tropical form of the 
species which is typical on the high plateau region of Mexico. The skull differs 
markedly from those of C. leuconotus of tropical eastern Mexico, and C. sonoriensis 
in lesser elongation, and depressed instead of highly arched frontal region. 
Specimens examined. — ^Three, all from the state of Colima, Mexico as follov^^s: 
Armeria (type locality), 1; Colima, 1 ; Hacienda Magdalena, 1. 
Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 
* Collection of A. B. Howell. 
