542 
[May ,5. 
left him without clothes or tools and destroyed the result of five 
weeks' hai'd collecting. 
The six skins that I have, however, show the muskrat of this 
region to be a well-marked subspecies. 
It is smaller than Fiber zibethicus, being about the size of 
F. z. paUidus^ and is of a very different color from either, having 
a dull sooty appearance and lacking all the beauty and lustei* of 
northern sj^ecimens. 
Description of the type of Fiber zibetJdcus rivalicius Bangs. 
Type No. 2719, coll. of E. A. and O. Bangs. $ adult from Burbridge, La., 
Jan. 31, 1895. F. L. Small, collector. Total length 530 mm. ; tail 222 mm. ; 
hind foot 81 mm. (measured in the flesh by the collector). 
Upper parts.^ Outer hair from clove-brown to black, rather sparse and 
lusterless ; under fur mouse gray at base, shading to sepia at the ends. 
Under parts. Outer hair sparse, of a color between vandyke and clove- 
brown ; under fur mouse-gray at the base and hair brown at the tips. On 
the under side of the legs and arms the fur is very short and a dirty brown- 
ish white to the base. There is a spot in the middle of the sides where the 
under fur is silvery white to the base. 
The feet, hands, and tail are black. 
The skulls of this form do not seem to differ from the skulls 
of true F. zibethicus from the North Atlantic states and Canada, 
except in their smaller size. 
Mbasurkments ok Fivk Adui-t Specimkns ok Fiber zibef.hi'Mia rivalicius 
Bangs. 
_.J2 
-^ 
~2 
No. 
Locality. 
Date. 
Sex. 
i! 
2719 
La., Burbridge. 
Jan. 31, '95. 
^ 
530 
222 
81 
2720 
it ». 
Jan. 11, '95. 
O 
510 
200 
71 
2721 
.. 
Jan. 10, '95. 
^ 
517 
228 
79 
2883 
" Hackberry. 
Apr. 15, '95. 
J 
498 
202 
76 
2884 
" 
Apr. 15, '95. 
^ 
495 
203 
70 
Colors according to Ridgway's nomenclature. 
i 
