^ V 0 V 
Vol. XXVII, pp. 13-18 
February 2, 1914 
PROCEEDINGS 
OF Tliv: 
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 
'^TEN NEW 
I\rARiMOT8 FROM 
NORTH AMERICA. 
BY ARTHUR H. HOWELL. 
A study of the marmots or woodchucks of North America, 
I)ased chiefly on the collections of the U. fe. Department of 
Agriculture, has revealed a surprisingly large numher of unrec¬ 
ognized races, and examination of a large amount of material 
from practically all parts of the range of the genus has served 
to show clearly that the three groups represented in North 
America are practically three species, the forms in each group, 
with the exception of two isolated species in the caligata group, 
being all subspecifically related to one another. Ihus the 
flaviventer group (which includes engelhardti and dacota) ranges 
from the Cascades of Oregon and the Sierra Nevada of California 
to the Black Hills of South Dakota, and consists of a single 
species divisible into 9 or more races connected by almost per¬ 
fect series of intergrades. 
Since the publication of the results of this study may neces¬ 
sarily he delayed for some time, it is deemed advisable to publish 
here preliminary descriptions of the new forms. 
Marmota rtionax rufescens subsi>. nov. 
RUFKSCENT WOODCHUCK. 
Type from Elk River, iHimiesota. Adult male, No. LS(i,o21. U. S. 
National Museum (Merriam Collection, No. April 0, LS8(), 
Bailey; original number, 2:)7. .... 
Characters.—^unWar to M. m. monax (from ^Maryland and Virginia), 
but colors much redder, liotb above and Ixdow, the underfur on back 
pinkish cinnamon instead of light bull’; skull similar to that of monax, 
l)ut decidedly smaller and relatively liroader across the zygomata ; much 
larger than that of canadensis. 
4 — Piioc. BroE, Soc. Wash., Voe. XXVII, 19H. H.O 
