Remarks.—This subspecies had not been recognized by previous workers because specimens from Panamá were supposed to beMustela affinisGray up until 1916, when Allen (1916:100) restricted the type locality ofM. affinisto Bogotá, Colombia. At that time Allen referred specimens from Panamá toMustela affinis costaricensis, and Goldman (1920:161) followed Allen.
The specimens examined show much variation. Part of this is geographic variation. For instance the specimens from Boquete approachM. f. costaricensisin size more than do those from farther south. Too few adult females have been seen to ascertain the amount of secondary sexual variation. Bangs (1902:49) suggested that the sex of no. 10113 was wrongly recorded and that it was not really a male. If so, this would reduce the range of apparent variation in size of males from Boquete by half and bring it into accord with the amount normally existing in adult males from one locality. No. 10113 is adult but the skin shows no mammae which would prove it to be a female instead of a pigmy male. Although even smaller than 10113, the type specimen is so much larger than females ofM. f. meridanathat I have wondered if it is correctly sexed. However, the fact that it was sexed by E. A. Goldman, a collector of wide experience, lessens the possibility that a mistake was made.
The color of the underparts is more restricted inpanamensisthan in any other subspecies of the species. Excluding the specimen from Mt. Pirre, the least width of color of the underparts averages 16 (extremes 6-24) per cent of greatest width of the color of the upper parts. This feature, together with the black color, imparts an appearance to the Panamá weasel that is strikingly like that of a mink.M. f. panamensisis one of the two blackest weasels;M. f. aureoventrisis the other. Each of these subspecies occurs in a region of heavy rainfall and there clearly is a positive correlation between high humidity and intensity of color. The black tip of the tail, as regards extent, here reaches the maximum attained among Central and South American weasels. The foot soles are less hairy than in any other member of the subgenusMustela. The tympanic bullae are lower and less inflated than in any other subspecies of the species.
Adequate specimens from central and southern Panamá may reveal the existence of one or more additional subspecies since animals from each of the three localities now represented differ from those from the other two and some of these differences are correlated with geographic position. However, specimens from all three localities agree in several features. For example all of them have the dorsal outline of the skull highly convex, transversely, and, more especially, longitudinally. In this respect they are sharply differentiated from any other American weasel. Nevertheless,M. f. panamensisis clearly a link between the North and South American subspecies andpanamensisintergrades with the adjacent subspecies. The large size of the skull and teeth and the slightly more ventrally projected tympanic bullae of no. 10112 from Boquete approach features seen inM. f. costaricensis. The smaller size of skull and teeth of no. 178970 from Mt. Pirre are points of resemblance toM. f. meridana.
The type specimen was selected from a region whereM. f. panamensisis thought to have its distinctive characters well developed. The specimen is not adult and, therefore, does not show as many differential characters as does a nontypical adult from Boquete. Nevertheless, the majority of the above mentioned differential characters are shown by the type specimen and an adult from the same place would, it is judged, show all the differential characters better than would an adult from Boquete.
Of the 11 skulls examined, 6 show no signs of having had the frontal sinuses infested with parasites.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 19, listed by localities from north to south and unless otherwise indicated in the United States National Museum.Panamá: Boquete, 10 (3[75], 1[8], 1[2], 3[4], 1[7]); Río Gariche [é], 5300 ft., 1[1]; Siola, 1[1]; Chiriquí, 1[7]; Río Indio, near Gatún, 1; Mt. Pirre, 3 (2[1]); Calovebora, 1[7](locality not found, possibly misspelling of Calovébora); no locality more definite than Panamá, 1[4].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 19, listed by localities from north to south and unless otherwise indicated in the United States National Museum.
Panamá: Boquete, 10 (3[75], 1[8], 1[2], 3[4], 1[7]); Río Gariche [é], 5300 ft., 1[1]; Siola, 1[1]; Chiriquí, 1[7]; Río Indio, near Gatún, 1; Mt. Pirre, 3 (2[1]); Calovebora, 1[7](locality not found, possibly misspelling of Calovébora); no locality more definite than Panamá, 1[4].
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates25,26,27,37,38and39
Mustela meridanaHollister, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 28:143, July 10, 1914.Putorius affinis, Robinson and Lyon, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 24:147, October, 1901; Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 30:256, December 2, 1911.Mustela affinis, Osgood, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ. 155, zoöl. ser. 10:61, January 10, 1912.Putorius macrurus, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 31:92, April 19, 1912.Mustela affinis affinis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:100, April 28, 1916 (part).Mustela affinis costaricensis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916 (part).Mustela frenata meridana, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Mustela meridanaHollister, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 28:143, July 10, 1914.
Putorius affinis, Robinson and Lyon, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 24:147, October, 1901; Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 30:256, December 2, 1911.
Mustela affinis, Osgood, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ. 155, zoöl. ser. 10:61, January 10, 1912.
Putorius macrurus, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 31:92, April 19, 1912.
Mustela affinis affinis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:100, April 28, 1916 (part).
Mustela affinis costaricensis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916 (part).
Mustela frenata meridana, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Type.—Male, subadult, skull and skin; no. 123341, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1630 meters elevation, Montes de Mérida, near Mérida, Venezuela; August 14, 1903; obtained by S. Briceno.The skull (plates25and26) lacks the right exoccipital condyle and posterior half of the right zygomatic arch. The teeth all are present, unworn and entire. The skin is well made and complete.Range.—Near sea level (San Julián) to 8500 feet (Montes de Culata, Mérida, Venezuela), and 9000 feet (Santa Elena, Colombia). Temperate to Subtropical life-zones of Venezuela and northern and western Colombia. See figure29on page221.Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, presence of p2 and two roots, rather than one root, on P2; fromM. frenata panamensisin lighter color of upper parts (tone 3 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black, Oberthür and Dauthenay), flat rather than convex dorsal outline of skull immediately behind postorbital processes (see pl. 27); fromM. f. affinis, in males, by lesser average breadth and length of skull and greater actual and relative size (see measurements) of facial part of skull; fromM. f. aureoventris, in males, by lighter upper parts (tone 3 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black, Oberthür and Dauthenay) and by smaller skull and teeth (basilar length less than 45, length of m1 less than 6.3, width of M1 less than 4.8, outside length of P4 less than 5.7).Description.—Size.—Male: Average and extreme measurements of topotypes (as recorded by collectors on labels, and so uniform as to show them not to be accurate to within more than 5 mm.) are as follows: Total length, 434 (410-460); length of tail, 164 (150-180); length of hind foot, 50 (no variation in collectors' measurements). Tail averages 61 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot more than basal length. Corresponding measurements of no. 22191, a young male from Mérida, measured by Osgood or Conover, are 439, 165, 54. The adult male no. 18703, from Páramo de Tama (eastern boundary of Venezuela) has the following measurements written on the label by Osgood: 404, 150, 47.Female: Average and extreme measurements of topotypes (as recorded by collectors on labels and so uniform as to show them not to be accurate to within more than 5 mm.) are as follows: Total length, 347 (320-370); length of tail, 128 (120-130); length of hind foot, 40 (no variation in collectors' measurements). Tail averages 57 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot more than basal length. Two females, adult no. 11034 and young no. 11033 from Cincinnati, Santa Marta, Colombia, measured by M. A. Carriker, Jr., measure, respectively, as follows: 371, 330; 140, 140; 38, 36. No. 14463, adult, from Río Zapata, Colombia, measured (by J. H. Batty), 315, 138, 39. No. 32182, adult, from Mira Flores, Cauca, Colombia, measured (by W. B. Richardson), 375, 150, 43.The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes, at Mérida, are: Total length, 87; length of tail, 36; length of hind foot, 10.Externals.—Longest facial vibrissae black (few rarely white) and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae colored like underparts or upper parts, and not extending beyond apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot soles slightly greater than shown in figure21.Color.—As described inMustela frenata panamensisexcept that: Posterior fourth of each upper lip rarely, and small spot in front of ear usually, white; black of head proper not extending back of ears and grading insensibly into color of upper parts; anterior half of upper parts of adults "frosted" with numerous white hairs (tick bites?), upper parts near (n) Bay or tone 2 of Reddish Black (pl. 344, Oberthür and Dauthenay) or tone 3 in freshest, unfaded pelage. Least width of color of underparts (in ten males from Mérida) 20 (17-23) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail, in same series, 60 to 75 mm. long, thus longer than hind foot and 41 (40-44) per cent as long as tail-vertebrae.Skull and teeth.—Male (based on type specimen and seven topotypes, five adults and three subadults): See measurements and plates25-27; weight, 4.1 (3.8-4.3) grams; basilar length, 43.6 (42.3-44.3); zygomatic breadth more than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid breadth less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth greater than length of upper premolars or than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth not less than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum greater than length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate greater than length of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of 4 to 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla less than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more or less than (approximately equal to) alveolar length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and shorter than rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa posterior to m2 and confined to posterior third (34 per cent average, 32 minimum, 37 maximum) of mandible.Female (based on four adult topotypes): See measurements and plates37-39; weight (no. 143665), 2.3 grams; basilar length 37.2 (36.3-38.2); zygomatic breadth more or less than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; postorbital breadth (sinuses badly infested with parasites) more than length of upper premolars or width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; least width of palate more than length of P4; tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as combined width of 4 to 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla less than (one half to three fourths of) distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row.The skull of the female is 44 per cent lighter than that of the average male.
Type.—Male, subadult, skull and skin; no. 123341, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1630 meters elevation, Montes de Mérida, near Mérida, Venezuela; August 14, 1903; obtained by S. Briceno.
The skull (plates25and26) lacks the right exoccipital condyle and posterior half of the right zygomatic arch. The teeth all are present, unworn and entire. The skin is well made and complete.
Range.—Near sea level (San Julián) to 8500 feet (Montes de Culata, Mérida, Venezuela), and 9000 feet (Santa Elena, Colombia). Temperate to Subtropical life-zones of Venezuela and northern and western Colombia. See figure29on page221.
Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, presence of p2 and two roots, rather than one root, on P2; fromM. frenata panamensisin lighter color of upper parts (tone 3 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black, Oberthür and Dauthenay), flat rather than convex dorsal outline of skull immediately behind postorbital processes (see pl. 27); fromM. f. affinis, in males, by lesser average breadth and length of skull and greater actual and relative size (see measurements) of facial part of skull; fromM. f. aureoventris, in males, by lighter upper parts (tone 3 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black, Oberthür and Dauthenay) and by smaller skull and teeth (basilar length less than 45, length of m1 less than 6.3, width of M1 less than 4.8, outside length of P4 less than 5.7).
Description.—Size.—Male: Average and extreme measurements of topotypes (as recorded by collectors on labels, and so uniform as to show them not to be accurate to within more than 5 mm.) are as follows: Total length, 434 (410-460); length of tail, 164 (150-180); length of hind foot, 50 (no variation in collectors' measurements). Tail averages 61 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot more than basal length. Corresponding measurements of no. 22191, a young male from Mérida, measured by Osgood or Conover, are 439, 165, 54. The adult male no. 18703, from Páramo de Tama (eastern boundary of Venezuela) has the following measurements written on the label by Osgood: 404, 150, 47.
Female: Average and extreme measurements of topotypes (as recorded by collectors on labels and so uniform as to show them not to be accurate to within more than 5 mm.) are as follows: Total length, 347 (320-370); length of tail, 128 (120-130); length of hind foot, 40 (no variation in collectors' measurements). Tail averages 57 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot more than basal length. Two females, adult no. 11034 and young no. 11033 from Cincinnati, Santa Marta, Colombia, measured by M. A. Carriker, Jr., measure, respectively, as follows: 371, 330; 140, 140; 38, 36. No. 14463, adult, from Río Zapata, Colombia, measured (by J. H. Batty), 315, 138, 39. No. 32182, adult, from Mira Flores, Cauca, Colombia, measured (by W. B. Richardson), 375, 150, 43.
The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes, at Mérida, are: Total length, 87; length of tail, 36; length of hind foot, 10.
Externals.—Longest facial vibrissae black (few rarely white) and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae colored like underparts or upper parts, and not extending beyond apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot soles slightly greater than shown in figure21.
Color.—As described inMustela frenata panamensisexcept that: Posterior fourth of each upper lip rarely, and small spot in front of ear usually, white; black of head proper not extending back of ears and grading insensibly into color of upper parts; anterior half of upper parts of adults "frosted" with numerous white hairs (tick bites?), upper parts near (n) Bay or tone 2 of Reddish Black (pl. 344, Oberthür and Dauthenay) or tone 3 in freshest, unfaded pelage. Least width of color of underparts (in ten males from Mérida) 20 (17-23) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail, in same series, 60 to 75 mm. long, thus longer than hind foot and 41 (40-44) per cent as long as tail-vertebrae.
Skull and teeth.—Male (based on type specimen and seven topotypes, five adults and three subadults): See measurements and plates25-27; weight, 4.1 (3.8-4.3) grams; basilar length, 43.6 (42.3-44.3); zygomatic breadth more than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid breadth less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth greater than length of upper premolars or than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth not less than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum greater than length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate greater than length of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of 4 to 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla less than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more or less than (approximately equal to) alveolar length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and shorter than rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa posterior to m2 and confined to posterior third (34 per cent average, 32 minimum, 37 maximum) of mandible.
Female (based on four adult topotypes): See measurements and plates37-39; weight (no. 143665), 2.3 grams; basilar length 37.2 (36.3-38.2); zygomatic breadth more or less than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; postorbital breadth (sinuses badly infested with parasites) more than length of upper premolars or width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; least width of palate more than length of P4; tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as combined width of 4 to 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla less than (one half to three fourths of) distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row.
The skull of the female is 44 per cent lighter than that of the average male.
Comparisons of the skull with those ofM. f. panamensisandaffinishave been made in the accounts of those subspecies. As compared with the skull of the male ofM. f. aureoventris, that ofmeridanaaverages smaller in every measurement taken. Indeed, none of the skulls ofmeridanaequals that ofaureoventrisin basilar length, length of tooth-rows, length of tympanic bulla, depth of skull at anterior margin of basioccipital or at posterior margin of upper molars, or measurements of teeth. Relative to the basilar length, most of the measurements are greater inmeridana. Exceptions are the relative length of the tooth-rows, and the two measurements of depth of the skull which average less.
Remarks.—In 1914 when Hollister named this weasel he compared it withM. f. affinisand most of the differential characters which he ascribed tomeridanawere merely "more than" or "less than" inaffinis. Inaffinis, Hollister included specimens from Chiriquí, Panamá, and the coast of Venezuela. The specimens from these three places were referred by Allen (1916:101) toMustela affinis costaricensis, and he restricted (op. cit.:100) the type locality ofMustela affinis affinisto Bogotá, Colombia, and synonymizedMustela meridanawithM. a. affinis. Hollister probably would not have namedmeridanahad he had specimens from Bogotá for comparison and had he regarded them as topotypes ofaffinisfor the difference is slight. Nevertheless, within the large geographic range ofM. f. meridanathere is some geographic variation. There is more of such variation in the color of the pelage than in shape and size of the skull. The specimen from San Julián is darker than the average and in this respect approaches truepanamensis. San Julián is situated at a relatively low elevation on the coast of Venezuela.
M. f. meridanaso closely resemblesM. f. affinisthat the writer has no quarrel with anyone who would synonymizemeridana. However, as represented by topotypes, the two races unquestionably are,on the average, different, and specimens from the southeastern part of the range ofaffinisprobably are individually distinguishable from topotypes ofmeridana.
Variation in the skulls of the series from Mérida is relatively small. This applies to both males and females. The external measurements recorded by native collectors are not accurate to within more than five millimeters but, considering this, variation in external measurements also seems to be slight. The difference in size of the two sexes appears to be uniformly greater than in weasels from Central America. The twenty-six topotypes show that the color and color pattern are relatively uniform. All are of nearly the same tone except juveniles or young which are, as in the case ofpanamensis, much brighter colored on the underparts. Also, the young have darker-colored upper parts. The adults, without exception, have numerous white hairs scattered over the back of the head, neck and between the shoulders. I have no trustworthy evidence to support the suggestion that these white hairs are the results of tick bites or that they are caused by other parasites which damage the hair follicles. The white facial markings vary relatively little in the 45 specimens carefully examined in this regard. Also, the variation in color pattern of the two sides of the head is small. Indeed, within rather narrow limits, the color of the two sides of the head is the same in every specimen except two. In these two the white spots anterior to the ears are confluent with the color of the underparts. Only one specimen, no. 21342, has a white spot between the eyes and this spot is small. Ten of the twenty-six specimens have a definite white spot or band in front of each ear. Two specimens have such a spot on one side only. The dark spots at the angles of the mouth are present on two sides in three specimens and on one side only in three others. The mentioned spots are, then, present nine out of a possible fifty-two times. When the spots are absent, dark color usually is present in the required area but is confluent with the color of the upper parts.
A young male from San Julián, Robinson and Lyon (1901:147) state ". . . was shot . . . as it ran over some bowlders in a ravine. Its eyes shone with the same greenish light as do the eyes of our common weasel, and it emitted the same strong odor." No. 14463, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., from Río Zapata, Colombia, according to data on the label, was "taken in timber belt in valley in balk hills" and the native name is Cosonebi. Two specimens taken on the Páramo de Tama, head of Tachira River, Venezuela and Colombia are commented on by Osgood (1912:61) as follows: "One . . . was caught in a steel trap baited with birds and set by the side of a rushing mountain stream. . . . The other was shot in midday as it came prowling about our 'house' in the clearing. . . ."
Of the thirty-three skulls before me, twelve have the frontal sinuses malformed by parasites. These twelve include most of the adults for few of the subadults and fewer of the young show pathologic conditions in the frontal region.
Note on localities.—Several of the localities in Colombia mentioned in "Specimens examined" are described and located by Chapman (1917:640-656, pl. 41) in his "Distribution of Bird-life in Colombia." Place names for Colombia on labels, not found on any map, or duplicated names of which I can not certainly select one, are Río Barrotow, Río Oscuro, Río Zapata, Río Japata, Guasca and El Baldro. Sonson may or may not be the town of that name situated some eighty miles northwest of Bogotá and on the east flank of the Central Andes west of the Magdalena River on the drainage of the Cauca River. In Venezuela most of the specimens from Mérida are labeled 1630 meters, Montes de Mérida. San Julián is some seven miles east of La Guaira (see Robinson and Lyon, 1901:136). San Esteban is located a little way back from the coast between Puerto Cabello and Valencia. Páramo de Tama is on the Venezuelan-Colombian border near the source of the Tachira River (see Osgood, 1912:35). Mt. Duida is shown as at 3° 30´ N and 65° 40´ W by Chapman (1931:13) and Mt. Auyán-tepui as near 5° 15´ N and 62° 50´ W by Chapman (1937:760).
Specimens examined.—Total number, 78, arranged by localities from north to south and unless otherwise indicated in the British Museum of Natural History.Venezuela: San Julián, 1[91]; Carácas, 2; Galipare, Cerro del Avila, 6500 feet, 1; San Esteban, 1[2]; Mérida, 45 (10[91], 14[2], 10[4], 2[60], 2[14], 1[78]); Páramo de Tama, 1[60].Colombia: Páramo de Tama, 1[60]; Cincinnati, 3[9]; Valdiva, 3800 ft., 1; Medellín, 2; 7200 ft., Barro Blanco, 1[2]; Santa Elena, 9000 ft., 1[2]; Santa Elena, 1[2]; Sonson, 2 (1[91], 1[2]); Mt. Auyan-tepuy, 1[2]; Pueblo Rico, 5200 ft., 1[91]; Mira Flores, 1[2]; Jerico, near Cauca River, 1; Tornel, 20 mi. NE Quitichao, 1; Mt. Duida, 1[2]; El Tambo, Cauca, 1[78]; El Baldro, 1[2]; Río Japata, 2[2]; Río Zapata, 4500 ft., 1; Río Oscuro, 3300 ft., 1; Río Barrotow, 3300 ft., 1; Guasca, 1[75]; no locality more definite than Colombia, 1.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 78, arranged by localities from north to south and unless otherwise indicated in the British Museum of Natural History.
Venezuela: San Julián, 1[91]; Carácas, 2; Galipare, Cerro del Avila, 6500 feet, 1; San Esteban, 1[2]; Mérida, 45 (10[91], 14[2], 10[4], 2[60], 2[14], 1[78]); Páramo de Tama, 1[60].
Colombia: Páramo de Tama, 1[60]; Cincinnati, 3[9]; Valdiva, 3800 ft., 1; Medellín, 2; 7200 ft., Barro Blanco, 1[2]; Santa Elena, 9000 ft., 1[2]; Santa Elena, 1[2]; Sonson, 2 (1[91], 1[2]); Mt. Auyan-tepuy, 1[2]; Pueblo Rico, 5200 ft., 1[91]; Mira Flores, 1[2]; Jerico, near Cauca River, 1; Tornel, 20 mi. NE Quitichao, 1; Mt. Duida, 1[2]; El Tambo, Cauca, 1[78]; El Baldro, 1[2]; Río Japata, 2[2]; Río Zapata, 4500 ft., 1; Río Oscuro, 3300 ft., 1; Río Barrotow, 3300 ft., 1; Guasca, 1[75]; no locality more definite than Colombia, 1.
Long-tailed Weasel
Plate30
Mustela affinisGray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 14(ser. 4):375, 1874.Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis frenatus, Coues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 142, 1877 (part).Putorius affinis, Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:31, June 30, 1896.Mustela affinis affinis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:100, April 28, 1916; Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:220, May 31, 1916.Mustela frenata affinis, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Mustela affinisGray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 14(ser. 4):375, 1874.
Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis frenatus, Coues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 142, 1877 (part).
Putorius affinis, Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:31, June 30, 1896.
Mustela affinis affinis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:100, April 28, 1916; Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:220, May 31, 1916.
Mustela frenata affinis, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Type.—Male, adult, skull with skin; no. 54.1.11.3 (skull originally numbered 195d, later 54.6.3.4), Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Colombia [given as new Granada in original description]; purchased from Mr. S. Stevens. Type locality restricted by Allen (1916:99) to Bogotá, Colombia.The skin is in a good state of preservation and has been made over into a conventional study specimen from a mount on exhibition. Exposure to light when mounted probably accounts for the faded color. The skull (plate30) lacks the middle 9 mm. of the right zygomatic arch, occiput, basioccipital and posterior two-thirds of the left tympanic bulla. The teeth all are present and entire.Range.—Four thousand six hundred feet (Quetame) to 9154 feet (El Carmen), Tropical to Temperate life-zones of eastern Andes of Colombia. See figure29on page221.Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, by presence of p2 and by two roots rather than one root on P2; fromM. frenata meridana, in case of males, by, on average, greater breadth and length of skull and lesser actual and relative size (see measurements) of facial part of skull; fromM. f. aureoventrisby lighter-colored upper parts (tone 2 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black of Oberthür and Dauthenay); fromM. f. macruraby darker color (Reddish Black, tone 2, pl. 344, Ober. and Dauth., rather than Chocolate, tone 3, pl. 343, Ober. and Dauth.).Description.—Size.—Male: Measurements in life, estimated from dried skins, are: Total length, 455; length of tail, 175; length of hind foot, 52. Proportions of parts supposedly as described inMustela frenata meridana.Female: Estimates from two dried skins: Total length, 365; length of tail, 135; length of hind foot, 43. Proportions of parts supposedly as described inMustela frenata meridana.The estimated differences in external measurements of the two sexes are: Total length, 90; length of tail, 40; length of hind foot, 9.Externals.—As described inMustela frenata meridana.Color.—As described inMustela frenata panamensisexcept that: posterior fourth of each upper lip and spot in front of each ear white in approximately half of the specimens; black of head proper not extending back of ears and grading insensibly into color of upper parts; upper parts near (n) Bay, or tone 2 of Reddish Black (pl. 344, Oberthür and Dauthenay). Least width of color of underparts (in five males from vicinity of Bogotá) 24 (15-29) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail, in same series, 60 to 75 mm. long, thus longer than hind foot and averaging 38 per cent as long as tail-vertebrae.Skull and teeth.—Male (based on three adults and two subadult topotypes): See measurements and plate30. As described inMustela frenata meridanaexcept that: Weight, 4.5 grams (estimated); basilar length 45.8±; interorbital breadth not greater than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla (type as inmeridanawhere interorbital breadth is more than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla); least width of palate not less than length of P4; masseteric fossa confined to posterior two-fifths (38 to 40 per cent; average 39 per cent) of mandible and not extended anteriorly to middle of m2.Female: No adults examined.
Type.—Male, adult, skull with skin; no. 54.1.11.3 (skull originally numbered 195d, later 54.6.3.4), Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Colombia [given as new Granada in original description]; purchased from Mr. S. Stevens. Type locality restricted by Allen (1916:99) to Bogotá, Colombia.
The skin is in a good state of preservation and has been made over into a conventional study specimen from a mount on exhibition. Exposure to light when mounted probably accounts for the faded color. The skull (plate30) lacks the middle 9 mm. of the right zygomatic arch, occiput, basioccipital and posterior two-thirds of the left tympanic bulla. The teeth all are present and entire.
Range.—Four thousand six hundred feet (Quetame) to 9154 feet (El Carmen), Tropical to Temperate life-zones of eastern Andes of Colombia. See figure29on page221.
Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, by presence of p2 and by two roots rather than one root on P2; fromM. frenata meridana, in case of males, by, on average, greater breadth and length of skull and lesser actual and relative size (see measurements) of facial part of skull; fromM. f. aureoventrisby lighter-colored upper parts (tone 2 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black of Oberthür and Dauthenay); fromM. f. macruraby darker color (Reddish Black, tone 2, pl. 344, Ober. and Dauth., rather than Chocolate, tone 3, pl. 343, Ober. and Dauth.).
Description.—Size.—Male: Measurements in life, estimated from dried skins, are: Total length, 455; length of tail, 175; length of hind foot, 52. Proportions of parts supposedly as described inMustela frenata meridana.
Female: Estimates from two dried skins: Total length, 365; length of tail, 135; length of hind foot, 43. Proportions of parts supposedly as described inMustela frenata meridana.
The estimated differences in external measurements of the two sexes are: Total length, 90; length of tail, 40; length of hind foot, 9.
Externals.—As described inMustela frenata meridana.
Color.—As described inMustela frenata panamensisexcept that: posterior fourth of each upper lip and spot in front of each ear white in approximately half of the specimens; black of head proper not extending back of ears and grading insensibly into color of upper parts; upper parts near (n) Bay, or tone 2 of Reddish Black (pl. 344, Oberthür and Dauthenay). Least width of color of underparts (in five males from vicinity of Bogotá) 24 (15-29) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail, in same series, 60 to 75 mm. long, thus longer than hind foot and averaging 38 per cent as long as tail-vertebrae.
Skull and teeth.—Male (based on three adults and two subadult topotypes): See measurements and plate30. As described inMustela frenata meridanaexcept that: Weight, 4.5 grams (estimated); basilar length 45.8±; interorbital breadth not greater than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla (type as inmeridanawhere interorbital breadth is more than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla); least width of palate not less than length of P4; masseteric fossa confined to posterior two-fifths (38 to 40 per cent; average 39 per cent) of mandible and not extended anteriorly to middle of m2.
Female: No adults examined.
As compared withM. f. meridanathe skull of the male is larger, to the average amount of 2.2 mm. in basilar length and 1.2 mm. in zygomatic breadth of adults; length of tooth-rows and mastoid breadth average greater but relatively less; breadth of rostrum, interorbital breadth and orbitonasal length average actually and relatively less. Thus the skull ofaffinisis longer and broader, but the facial region is actually, as well as relatively, smaller. As compared with the skull of the male ofM. f. aureoventris, that ofM. f. affinisis about the same in basilar length. However, in no specimen ofaffinisare the measurements of length of tooth-rows or breadth of rostrum, actually, or relatively, as great as inaureoventris. The same is true of all measurements taken of M1, P4 and m1. The specimens from the vicinity of Quito and north of there, although referred tomacrura, are nearly as dark as typicalaffinis, approachaffinisin cranial characters, and indicate intergradation ofaffiniswithmacrura.
Remarks.—Mustela affiniswas named by John Edward Gray in 1874 (p. 375) on the basis of a specimen from New Granada. Although usually synonymized withMustela brasiliensisby later authors until 1896 when Merriam (1896:31) applied the name to weasels from Costa Rica, nearly all the South American and several of the Central American weasels have, at one time or another, had Gray's name,affinis, applied to them. Gray, in 1865 (p. 115) when giving measurements ofMustela aureoventris, probably mentioned the specimen, that later became the holotype. In 1916 (p. 98) Allen restricted the type locality to Bogotá, Colombia. Allen's action was a necessary procedure in clearing up the systematics of South American weasels and was based on good grounds. As set forth by Allen (loc. cit.), and more in detail by Chapman (1917:642), Bogotá has long been the shipping point for Colombian vertebrate specimens, many of which were obtained in the mountains to the east. Allen (1916A:220) quotes Thomas as saying that the type specimen was purchased from Stevens at about the same time that a number of Colombian birds were purchased from the same dealer. Also, specimens from Bogotá agree with Gray's description of the type specimen.
Mustela frenata affinis, as here defined, constitutes one of the several slight geographic variants met with, on the sides of, and between, the three north and south mountain chains of Colombia. The others are lumped under the nameMustela frenata meridana.M. f. affinis, in common with specimens from the northern part of the range ofmacrurahas large teeth. Weasels of all of the region from Quito to Bogotá have large teeth. To the north there is the smaller-toothedmeridanaand to the south the smaller-toothedmacruragrading into the still smaller-toothedagilis, andboliviensis.
Two skins, without corresponding skulls, from Caqueta are lighter colored than any others ofaffinis; possibly the skins are faded by exposure to light. Since they probably come from an elevation of less than 1000 feet in the Amazonian region, they may pertain to another subspecies.
Complete, unbroken, skulls ofaffinisare needed to ascertain the degree to whichaffinisandmeridanadiffer in cranial features. The several specimens from the immediate region of Bogotá show well the color and the color pattern but lack collectors' measurements.
None of the ten skulls examined shows malformation of the frontal region due to infestation of the frontal sinuses by parasites. Possibly three of the four adults were infested, although not severely.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 27, arranged by localities from north to south and unless otherwise indicated in the United States National Museum.Colombia: El Carmen, 1[2]; W. Cundinamarca, 1[7]; Muzzo [= Muzo?], 1[4]; Bogotá, 1; Castillo, near Bogotá, 1[7]; Fambrias, near Bogotá, 1[75]; Bogotá district, 1[2]; Choachí, 9 (1[75], 2[7], 1[84]); Páramo de Choachí, 2 (1[2], 1[84]); Laguna del Verjón (= City of Bogotá), 1[75]; Quetame, 2[2]; Fusagasuga, 1; Caqueta, 2[2]; no locality more definite than Colombia, 3 (1[7]).
Specimens examined.—Total number, 27, arranged by localities from north to south and unless otherwise indicated in the United States National Museum.
Colombia: El Carmen, 1[2]; W. Cundinamarca, 1[7]; Muzzo [= Muzo?], 1[4]; Bogotá, 1; Castillo, near Bogotá, 1[7]; Fambrias, near Bogotá, 1[75]; Bogotá district, 1[2]; Choachí, 9 (1[75], 2[7], 1[84]); Páramo de Choachí, 2 (1[2], 1[84]); Laguna del Verjón (= City of Bogotá), 1[75]; Quetame, 2[2]; Fusagasuga, 1; Caqueta, 2[2]; no locality more definite than Colombia, 3 (1[7]).
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates27,28and29
Mustela aureoventrisGray, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1864:55, pl. 8, 1864; Gray, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1865:115, 1865.Putorius (Gale) brasiliensisvar.aequatorialisCoues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 142, 1877, part? ("merely as a substitute for Gray's [supposedly] preoccupied name," that is,aureoventris).Mustela affinis costaricensis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916 (part).Mustela macrura, Lönnberg, Arkiv för Zool., 14 (no. 4):11, 1921 (part ?).Mustela frenata aureoventris, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Mustela aureoventrisGray, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1864:55, pl. 8, 1864; Gray, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1865:115, 1865.
Putorius (Gale) brasiliensisvar.aequatorialisCoues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 142, 1877, part? ("merely as a substitute for Gray's [supposedly] preoccupied name," that is,aureoventris).
Mustela affinis costaricensis, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916 (part).
Mustela macrura, Lönnberg, Arkiv för Zool., 14 (no. 4):11, 1921 (part ?).
Mustela frenata aureoventris, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Type.—Probably female, juvenile, skull with skin, no. 64.6.6.3 (formerly 1432a), British Mus. Nat. Hist.; probably Subtropical Life-zone of western Ecuador (locality given as Quito, probably because received from that place).The skin, once exhibited as a mount, has lost some hair from the back and other parts of the body and is not suitable for remaking into a conventional study specimen. The skull lacks the occiput, basioccipital, premaxillae, upper incisors, two of the lower incisors, all of the canines, premolars 2/2 on both sides, right P3, left p3, and has the left jugal mesially defective. The premolars present are not all fully emerged.Range.—Pacific coastal regions of Ecuador and Colombia; Subtropical and Tropical life-zones. See figure29on page221.Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, by presence of p2 and by two rather than one root on P2; fromMustela frenata macruraby Reddish Black, tone 4, plate 344 rather than Chocolate, tone 3, pl. 343 (of Oberthür and Dauthenay), or slightly darker color of upper parts; fromM. f. affinisandM. f. meridanaby darker color (tone 4 rather than tone 2, Reddish Black of Ober. and Dauth.) of upper parts and larger size of teeth (M1 with length more than 2.4 and breadth more than 4.7; P4 with outside length more than 5.9; length of m1 more than 6.2).Description.—Unless otherwise stated, information concerning this subspecies is derived from the one referred specimen available, a young male, no. 34677, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.Size.—Male: Total length, 470; length of tail, 160; length of hind foot, 50. Tail 51 per cent as long as head and body.Female: Not known.Externals.—Longest facial vibrissae black and reaching beyond ear. Carpal vibrissae reaching to or beyond apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot soles slightly less than shown in figure 20.Color.—Sides and top of head and neck posteriorly to shoulders black; white facial markings represented by only five white hairs anterior to right ear, one anterior to left ear and three far back on forehead; dark areas at angles of mouth confluent with color of upper parts; tip of tail black; remainder of upper parts near (n) Bay or Reddish Black, tone 4 of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 344; chin whitish; remainder of underparts Warm Buff, deep orange in juvenile, type specimen, according to Gray (1864, pl. 8); color of underparts extending distally on posterior sides of forelegs to wrists but not reaching foot soles and on hind legs to or slightly below knees. Least width of color of underparts equal to 15 per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail equal to 27 per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.In color, no. 34677 is, to me as it was to Allen (1916:101), indistinguishable from the darkest specimens (nos. 178970 and 10112) ofM. f. panamensis. Therefore,M. f. aureoventrisis one of the two darkest subspecies of weasels.Skull and teeth.—Male: See measurements and plates27-29; weight, 4.3 grams; basilar length, 45.8; zygomatic breadth approximately equal to distance between condylar foramen and M1 and to distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid breadth less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth more than length of upper premolars and greater than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth greater than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum less (at least in young specimen) than length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate seldom if ever greater than length of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of three (including I3) upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla not greater than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and shorter than orbitonasal length; anterior margin of masseteric fossa below anterior half of m2.Skulls of males ofM. f. aureoventris, andMustela frenata macrurafrom the vicinity of Quito so closely resemble one another as not to be distinguished with the material now available, although the teeth ofaureoventrisare larger. Comparisons of the skulls of males with those ofM. f. meridanaandaffinis, which are readily distinguishable from those ofaureoventris, have been made in the accounts of those subspecies.Female: Skull of adult unknown.
Type.—Probably female, juvenile, skull with skin, no. 64.6.6.3 (formerly 1432a), British Mus. Nat. Hist.; probably Subtropical Life-zone of western Ecuador (locality given as Quito, probably because received from that place).
The skin, once exhibited as a mount, has lost some hair from the back and other parts of the body and is not suitable for remaking into a conventional study specimen. The skull lacks the occiput, basioccipital, premaxillae, upper incisors, two of the lower incisors, all of the canines, premolars 2/2 on both sides, right P3, left p3, and has the left jugal mesially defective. The premolars present are not all fully emerged.
Range.—Pacific coastal regions of Ecuador and Colombia; Subtropical and Tropical life-zones. See figure29on page221.
Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, by presence of p2 and by two rather than one root on P2; fromMustela frenata macruraby Reddish Black, tone 4, plate 344 rather than Chocolate, tone 3, pl. 343 (of Oberthür and Dauthenay), or slightly darker color of upper parts; fromM. f. affinisandM. f. meridanaby darker color (tone 4 rather than tone 2, Reddish Black of Ober. and Dauth.) of upper parts and larger size of teeth (M1 with length more than 2.4 and breadth more than 4.7; P4 with outside length more than 5.9; length of m1 more than 6.2).
Description.—Unless otherwise stated, information concerning this subspecies is derived from the one referred specimen available, a young male, no. 34677, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.
Size.—Male: Total length, 470; length of tail, 160; length of hind foot, 50. Tail 51 per cent as long as head and body.
Female: Not known.
Externals.—Longest facial vibrissae black and reaching beyond ear. Carpal vibrissae reaching to or beyond apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot soles slightly less than shown in figure 20.
Color.—Sides and top of head and neck posteriorly to shoulders black; white facial markings represented by only five white hairs anterior to right ear, one anterior to left ear and three far back on forehead; dark areas at angles of mouth confluent with color of upper parts; tip of tail black; remainder of upper parts near (n) Bay or Reddish Black, tone 4 of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 344; chin whitish; remainder of underparts Warm Buff, deep orange in juvenile, type specimen, according to Gray (1864, pl. 8); color of underparts extending distally on posterior sides of forelegs to wrists but not reaching foot soles and on hind legs to or slightly below knees. Least width of color of underparts equal to 15 per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail equal to 27 per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.
In color, no. 34677 is, to me as it was to Allen (1916:101), indistinguishable from the darkest specimens (nos. 178970 and 10112) ofM. f. panamensis. Therefore,M. f. aureoventrisis one of the two darkest subspecies of weasels.
Skull and teeth.—Male: See measurements and plates27-29; weight, 4.3 grams; basilar length, 45.8; zygomatic breadth approximately equal to distance between condylar foramen and M1 and to distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid breadth less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth more than length of upper premolars and greater than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth greater than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum less (at least in young specimen) than length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate seldom if ever greater than length of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of three (including I3) upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla not greater than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and shorter than orbitonasal length; anterior margin of masseteric fossa below anterior half of m2.
Skulls of males ofM. f. aureoventris, andMustela frenata macrurafrom the vicinity of Quito so closely resemble one another as not to be distinguished with the material now available, although the teeth ofaureoventrisare larger. Comparisons of the skulls of males with those ofM. f. meridanaandaffinis, which are readily distinguishable from those ofaureoventris, have been made in the accounts of those subspecies.
Female: Skull of adult unknown.
Remarks.—This subspecies of the Tropical Life-zone, or at least the Subtropical Life-zone, of Ecuador, in certain cranial characters resemblesMustela frenata macruraof the Temperate Life-zone. The two differ markedly in color. Nevertheless, a large number of the specimens collected in Ecuador are intermediate in color as well as in zonal distribution.
The type specimen is young or a juvenile. The measurements of no. 34677 from Gualea indicate an animal similar in size toM. f. affinis. Gray (1864:55) states that the type specimen measures "Length of body and head 6 inches, of tail 4-1/2 inches." The plate (pl. 8) accompanying Gray's original description (loc. cit.) is marked one-half natural size and represents the animal as having a head and body length of eight and one-half inches. One year later Gray (1865:115) gives the measurements of this species as "Length of body and head 12, tail 8 inches." Since he had at this time another specimen, larger than the type specimen (which specimen later, probably, became the type ofMustela affinisGray), the larger measurements probably were taken from it.
Geographically, and as regards cranial characters,Mustela frenata aureoventrisis most closely related toM. f. affinisand to the northern section ofM. f. macrura, but in color toM. f. panamensis.M. f. aureoventrisandM. f. panamensisare the two darkest-colored subspecies and each occurs in a region of extremely heavy rainfall. There is a skin only, no. 32620, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., from Munchique, obtained on June 1, 1911, which is appreciably darker than specimens ofM. f. affinisin corresponding pelage and is intermediate betweenM. f. affinisandM. f. aureoventrisin color as it is geographically. The specimen measures 495, 202, 52.
The nameMustela aureoventrisGray has been regarded by most authors as preoccupied byMustela auriventerHodgson (1841:909). However, the writer is not of this opinion and agrees with Thomas (1920:224) that "The nameaureoventrisis not invalidated by theauriventerof Hodgson, as, apart from 'one-letterist' differences, its first half comes from the adjectiveaureus, while Hodgson's name is based on the substantiveaurum, so that not only the spellings but the derivations are different." The spelling of Gray's name should beaureoventrisfor this is the spelling in the original description which in pagination precedes the colored plate of the animal that is labeledMustela aureoventris.Putorius brasiliensisvar.aequatorialisCoues (1877:142) is the only name known to the writer that has been proposed as a substitute forMustela aureoventrisGray.
Thomas (1920:224) treatsMustela macruraTaczanowski as a synonym ofMustela aureoventrisGray. Allen (1916:101) also treats the two names as applying to the same kind of weasel but regardsaureoventrisas preoccupied and therefore uses the namemacrura. Taczanowski's original description (1874:311) and plate ofMustela macruraindicate an animal that is lighter colored thanM. f. affinis. Gray's original description (1864:55) and plate ofaureoventrisindicate an animal that is darker colored thanM. f. affinis. Indeed Gray (1865:115) in speaking of the type ofaureoventrisas compared with an adult from New Granada [= Colombia] that probably later became the type specimen ofMustela affinis, states: "The young from Quito is much darker than the adult;. . . ." Comparison of the plates accompanying the original descriptions ofaureoventrisandmacrurawell illustrate the difference stated in the written descriptions. My examination of the type specimens ofM. macruraandM. f. aureoventrisshows them to have been fairly accurately portrayed in the plates accompanying the original descriptions. Accordingly the two names are used for the two kinds of animals which appear, however, to be only subspecifically distinct.
Comparison of Gray's plate (1864, pl. 8) with the available specimens from South America indicates that the nameaureoventrisis based on an individual that is lighter colored than no. 34677 Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., from Gualea, Ecuador, but on one which resembles no. 34677 more than it does the lighter-colored specimens from the Temperate Zone of Ecuador and northern Perú. Because Quito, Ecuador, is in the Temperate Life-zone and because the available specimens from this zone in Ecuador and northern Perú are distinctly lighter colored than Gray's plate representing the type ofaureoventrisshows this specimen to be, it is judged to have come from an altitude lower than that of Quito (9350 feet, according to Chapman, 1926:717); probably it came from the Subtropical Life-zone of Ecuador. Indeed Gray (1864:55) did not say that the specimen was collected or obtained at Quito but that it was ". . . received from Quito. . . ." Chapman (1926:717) has pointed out that Quito, since 1846 has been the distributing point for bird skins which specimens ". . . come from the vicinity of the city, from the 'Napo' region on the Amazonian slopes of the Andes, and from Nanegal, Gualea, and other localities on the Pacific side rarely below the Subtropical Zone." It is also pointed out that only some of the specimens are labeled with their approximate place of capture and that even then these localities cannot be accepted as definite; they indicate mainly whether the specimen is from the eastern or western side of the Andes.
The above mentioned considerations and information gained by study of the specimens cause me to think that the type is an intergrade tending toward the lighter-coloredMustela f. macruraof the Temperate Zone although sufficiently dark to be referred to the dark subspecies represented by no. 34677 Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., from Gualea, Ecuador.
The skull of no. 34677 shows no infestation of the frontal sinuses by parasites.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 3, as follows:Ecuador: Gualea, 1, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.Colombia: 8325 ft., Munchique, 1, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. In the British Museum of Natural History, the type, (1).
Specimens examined.—Total number, 3, as follows:
Ecuador: Gualea, 1, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.
Colombia: 8325 ft., Munchique, 1, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. In the British Museum of Natural History, the type, (1).
Long-tailed Weasel
Plates 27, 28 and 29
Mustela frenata helleriHall, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 48:143, August 22, 1935; Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Mustela frenata helleriHall, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 48:143, August 22, 1935; Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:110, November 20, 1936; Hall, Physis, 16:175, 1939.
Type.—Male, adult, skull and skin; no. 24133, Field Mus. Nat. Hist.; 3000 feet, Hacienda San Antonio, Río Chinchao, Perú; August 22, 1922. Obtained by Edmund Heller. Original no. 6589.The skull (plates27-29) is complete and unbroken. The teeth all are present, entire and but slightly worn. The skin is well made, unfaded, and in good condition.Range.—Three thousand feet (type locality) to 6700 feet (Ambo), Tropical and Subtropical life-zones of eastern Perú. See figure29on page221.Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, presence of p2 and two roots rather than one root on P2; fromMustela frenata macruraby darker color (Carbon Brown, tone 3, pl. 342 rather than Chocolate, tone 3, pl. 343, Oberthür and Dauthenay) of upper parts.Description.—Size.—Male: Measurements of the type specimen and topotype, no. 24132, are, respectively, as follows: Total length, 382, 418; length of tail, 152, 164; length of hind foot, 52, 48. Tail 66 and 65 per cent as long as head and body. Hind foot more than basal length.Female: Measurements of two referred females, no. 24134 from Ambo and no. 24136 from Huanuco, are, respectively, as follows: Total length, 328 and 303; length of tail, 118 and 103; length of hind foot, 39 and 38.5. Tail 56 and 51 per cent as long as head and body. Hind foot shorter than basal length.The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes are: Total length, 85; length of tail, 49; length of hind foot, 11.Externals.—Longest facial vibrissae black and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae same color as upper parts and extending to apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot-soles as shown in figure20.Color.—Rarely a few white hairs anterior to each ear; posterior fifth of each upper lip white; top of head, posteriorly to slightly behind ears, black, grading into color of upper parts of body; dark spots at angles of mouth absent; tip of tail black; remainder of upper parts near (n) Argus Brown and Carbon Brown, tone 3 (pl. 342, Oberthür and Dauthenay); chin whitish; remainder of underparts Warm Buff; color of underparts extends distally on posterior sides of forelegs to wrists but not reaching foot-soles and on hind legs to slightly below knees. Least width of color of underparts 24 per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts in each of two males and 19 to 30 per cent in three females. Black tip of tail longer than hind foot and averaging 40 (39-42) per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.Skull and teeth.—Male (based on type specimen and adult no. 24132): See measurements and plates27-29. As described inMustela frenata macruraexcept that: Weight, 4.5 (4.2 and 4.8); basilar length, 44.6 (44.0-45.3); zygomatic breadth more than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum more or less than (approximately equal to) length of tympanic bulla; height of tympanic bulla less than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla less than length of rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa posterior to m2 by length of that tooth.Female (based on nos. 24134 to 24136): See measurements. As described inMustela frenata macruraexcept that: Weight, 1.7 (1.5-1.9) grams; basilar length, 36.5 (35.3-38.1); zygomatic breadth less than distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; least width of palate more or less than (approximately equal to) outside length of P4; length of tympanic bulla less than length of rostrum.The skull of the female averages 62 per cent lighter than that of the male.
Type.—Male, adult, skull and skin; no. 24133, Field Mus. Nat. Hist.; 3000 feet, Hacienda San Antonio, Río Chinchao, Perú; August 22, 1922. Obtained by Edmund Heller. Original no. 6589.
The skull (plates27-29) is complete and unbroken. The teeth all are present, entire and but slightly worn. The skin is well made, unfaded, and in good condition.
Range.—Three thousand feet (type locality) to 6700 feet (Ambo), Tropical and Subtropical life-zones of eastern Perú. See figure29on page221.
Characters for ready recognition.—Differs fromMustela africana stolzmanniby absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal stripe of same color as upper parts, presence of p2 and two roots rather than one root on P2; fromMustela frenata macruraby darker color (Carbon Brown, tone 3, pl. 342 rather than Chocolate, tone 3, pl. 343, Oberthür and Dauthenay) of upper parts.
Description.—Size.—Male: Measurements of the type specimen and topotype, no. 24132, are, respectively, as follows: Total length, 382, 418; length of tail, 152, 164; length of hind foot, 52, 48. Tail 66 and 65 per cent as long as head and body. Hind foot more than basal length.
Female: Measurements of two referred females, no. 24134 from Ambo and no. 24136 from Huanuco, are, respectively, as follows: Total length, 328 and 303; length of tail, 118 and 103; length of hind foot, 39 and 38.5. Tail 56 and 51 per cent as long as head and body. Hind foot shorter than basal length.
The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes are: Total length, 85; length of tail, 49; length of hind foot, 11.
Externals.—Longest facial vibrissae black and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae same color as upper parts and extending to apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot-soles as shown in figure20.
Color.—Rarely a few white hairs anterior to each ear; posterior fifth of each upper lip white; top of head, posteriorly to slightly behind ears, black, grading into color of upper parts of body; dark spots at angles of mouth absent; tip of tail black; remainder of upper parts near (n) Argus Brown and Carbon Brown, tone 3 (pl. 342, Oberthür and Dauthenay); chin whitish; remainder of underparts Warm Buff; color of underparts extends distally on posterior sides of forelegs to wrists but not reaching foot-soles and on hind legs to slightly below knees. Least width of color of underparts 24 per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts in each of two males and 19 to 30 per cent in three females. Black tip of tail longer than hind foot and averaging 40 (39-42) per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.
Skull and teeth.—Male (based on type specimen and adult no. 24132): See measurements and plates27-29. As described inMustela frenata macruraexcept that: Weight, 4.5 (4.2 and 4.8); basilar length, 44.6 (44.0-45.3); zygomatic breadth more than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum more or less than (approximately equal to) length of tympanic bulla; height of tympanic bulla less than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla less than length of rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa posterior to m2 by length of that tooth.
Female (based on nos. 24134 to 24136): See measurements. As described inMustela frenata macruraexcept that: Weight, 1.7 (1.5-1.9) grams; basilar length, 36.5 (35.3-38.1); zygomatic breadth less than distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; least width of palate more or less than (approximately equal to) outside length of P4; length of tympanic bulla less than length of rostrum.
The skull of the female averages 62 per cent lighter than that of the male.
The skull of the male is generally large and heavy as are the teeth. Comparison withmacrurais made in the account of that subspecies. From males ofaffinisthose ofhelleridiffer in: skull shorter; breadth of rostrum and interorbital breadth actually and relatively greater.
Remarks.—The five specimens examined of this subspecies were taken by Edmund Heller for the Field Museum of Natural History in 1922 and 1923. It is to honor his contributions to mammalogy that the subspecies is namedhelleri. No. 24135 is the specimen carried as a pet for some time by Mr. and Mrs. Heller and of which Mrs. Heller (1924:481) has given an account.