MAMMALS—TaLPIDAE—SCALOPS TOWNSENDII. 
67 
tionally broader ; the tail longer and thicker, tapering less to the tip. The color is a good deal 
more silvery, almost like S. aquaticus or argentatus; lighter below, and far from having the 
sooty brown tinge of S. toivnsendii. The skull is perhaps a little broader ; the premolars more 
compressed and trenchant. The anterior incisors are broad and rodent-like; the two outer 
ones on either side are entirely lateral, very small and nearly equal; the canine is of similar 
size, but a little larger. The tooth behind the canine is similar to that anterior to it, but a 
little shorter; the next two are successively larger and more compressed. In the lower jaw 
the teeth anterior to the posterior four are simple, subcylindrical, and nearly equal in size. 
Notwithstanding these differences, I am by no means sure that the specimens from California 
are distinct. I have before me five specimens, two from San Francisco, the others from Peta¬ 
luma. These were all kept some time in alcohol; and the feet, tail, and muzzle are fuller than 
in dried skins. They are not as large as two specimens of S. toivnsendii from Washington Ter¬ 
ritory, but are about equal to three others. The skulls do not appear to be perfectly adult. 
Should further comparisons show the California mole to be distinct from the Oregon one, the 
diagnosis will probably be: 
Scalops californicus. —Size less than in S. townsendii; palms, tail, and muzzle thicker; nostrils 
more terminal. Color, light sooty brown, glossed with silvery ; lighter and clearer beneath. 
Tail rather hairy ; the hairs rather long. 
Dr. Ayres speaks of the California mole as differing from S. townsendii in size and color ; as 
described by him, (dark glossy brown, almost black,) the difference is less than I have made it 
from alcoholic specimens. 
I am not prepared to admit the Scalops aeneus of Mr. Cassin as distinct from S. townsendii. 
The smaller size would belong to a young specimen, and the peculiar combination of the brassy 
color with the black nails and feet might be the natural result of long immersion of the animal 
in alcohol. The dentition is the same with that of S. townsendii. 
The Talpa taeniata of Leconte, founded on the specimen from Oregon, figured by Audubon 
as having a light stripe on the belly, does not possess sufficient characters for a specific separa¬ 
tion. As is well known, the moles, both of Europe and America, are liable to these irregu¬ 
larities of coloration ; a specimen of the closely allied S. breweri is irregularly blotched in 
various parts of the body with white, as also'one of S. aquaticus , (see page 61.) 
The difference in dentitiQn between this species and S. aquaticus is too great to require any 
special comparison. From S. breweri, with the same number of teeth, it differs in having the 
anterior middle incisor considerably broader, shorter, and more chisel-shaped ; the most poste¬ 
rior premolar is much larger and more trenchant, resembling the molars, and viewed laterally, 
actually larger than the most posterior molar ; in S. breweri this tooth has the crown but little 
longer and no wider than the canine. There is a corresponding difference in the lower jaw. 
Measurements (specimens in alcohol.) 
Current 
number. 
Locality. 
Tip of nose to— 
Tail to end of 
Length of— 
Breadth 
of palm. 
1 
1 Nature of 
specimen. 
Eye. 
Ear. 
Occip. 
Root of 
tail. 
Verteb. 
Hairs. 
Hand. 
Foot. 
2212 
2209 
Steilacoom. 
Petaluma, Cal.. 
0. 73 
0.78 
1.45 
1. 16 
2.05 
1.60 
4. 98 
4. 05 
1.59 
1. 48 
1.79 
1. 68 
0.91 
0. 88 
0. 64 
0. 80 
0.77 
0. 69 
From alcohol. 
.do..... 
