194 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
MEPHITIS OCCIDENT ALIS, Baird. 
California Skunk. 
? Mephitis mesomelas, St. Hilaire, Voy. de la Venus, Zoologie, I, 1855, 133; plate. 
Sp. Ch. —Size of a cat. Tail vertebra two-thirds the length of head and body. Bony palate with small narrow emargination 
in the middle of its posterior edge. Color black, with a white nuchal patch, bifurcating behind and reaching to the tail, which 
is entirely black. 
Judging from the skull this animal must have been of very large size, considerably exceeding 
the average of North American specimens. The nose is large and broad, the hairs come on the 
upper side to within about a quarter of an inch of the end, the nostrils, however, are terminal 
and entirely lateral. The feet are very large and broad, considerably exceeding corresponding 
specimens of the common eastern species. The soles are hairy on their posterior third. The 
tail appears to he about equal in length to the head and body. 
The color, as in most skunks, is black; there is a narrow line of white on the forehead 
between the eyes; a nuchal patch commences hack of the ears and extends to the shoulders, 
then bifurcates into two narrow lines, which extend along the side of the hack, diverging most 
in its middle portion, and approximating towards the base of the tail, opposite which it abruptly 
ceases—the two an inch or more apart. The exterior of the tail is entirely black ; the bases of 
all the hairs are white, this color reaching nearer to the end of the hairs along the median 
portion. A few scattered hairs, entirely white, are seen here and there, hut they are not at all 
prominent. • 
This species hears a close resemblance to the Mephitis varians , hut is considerably stouter 
and thicker, with stronger and broader feet. The tail is much shorter, entirely black externally, 
instead of being invaded in its middle portion by white. The skulls are quite different. M. 
chinga has a much broader nuchal patch, a less continuous lateral stripe, a shorter tail, with a 
white tip, not black ; it is also without the notch in the bony palate. 
This appears to be the animal that is figured in the Voyage de la Venus as the Mephitis meso¬ 
melas of Lichtenstein. This cannot be the name, however, as the mesomelas is characterized 
among all the skunks by the densely pilose soles, a feature wanting in the present specimen. 
The description in the Voyage de la Venus makes no mention of the character of the soles. 
The skull of the California skunk, three of which are before me, has a peculiarity I have seen 
in no others. The posterior margin of the palate is concave in its outline, with a decided emar¬ 
gination in the middle line, reaching nearly to the posterior edge of the last molar. In all 
others this outline is either transverse, or the palate extends further backwards in its middle 
line than on the sides, making a cordate outline. 
Measurements. 
Current 
number. 
Locality. 
Nose to 
tail. 
Tail to end of— 
Length of— 
Skull. 
Verteb. 
Hairs. 
Fore feet, na¬ 
ked portion. 
Hind feet. 
Length. 
Width. 
1944 
Petaluma, Cal _ _- 
19. 25 
12. 25 
1G. 00 
2.20 
3. 00 
3.36 
2.06 
