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Title: Two New Moles (Genus Scalopus) from Mexico and Texas

Author: Rollin H. Baker

Release Date: January 24, 2010 [EBook #31063]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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Two New Moles (Genus Scalopus)
from Mexico and Texas

BY

ROLLIN H. BAKER


University of Kansas Publications
Museum of Natural History

Volume 5, No. 2, pp. 17-24
February 28, 1951


University of Kansas
LAWRENCE
1951

University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Edward H. Taylor,
A. Byron Leonard, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 5, No. 2, pp. 17-24
February 28, 1951


University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas


PRINTED BY
FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1951

23-6626

[Pg 19]

Two New Moles (Genus Scalopus)
from Mexico and Texas

BY

ROLLIN H. BAKER

In the spring of 1950, a field party from the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History including J. R. Alcorn, W. J. Schaldach, Jr., George Newton, and the author collected mammals in the Mexican state of Coahuila. A few days were spent in the Sierra del Carmen. One morning when examining sets for pocket gophers in these mountains, Alcorn found a mole caught in one of the traps. Subsequent examination discloses that this specimen belongs to a heretofore unknown species which may be named and described as follows:

Scalopus montanus new species

Remarks.—S. montanus is known from a single specimen, which represents the second known occurrence of the genus Scalopus in[Pg 20] Mexico. The other occurrence is that of S. inflatus in the state of Tamaulipas. S. montanus is geographically isolated in mountainous country from other species of Scalopus. Ten of the recognized subspecies of S. aquaticus were available for examination and descriptions of others were studied. It was found that the number and magnitude of the differences separating any one of these subspecies from an adjoining one was less than those separating S. montanus from S. a. texanus and S. a. intermedius, which are, geographically, closest to S. montanus. S. montanus seems not to be closely related to S. inflatus of Tamaulipas. S. montanus is given specific rank because of the great degree of difference between it and its nearest relatives, and because of its geographically isolated position.

The specimen of S. montanus was taken in a tunnel found by digging away a mound thought to be that of the pocket gopher, Thomomys sturgisi. A trap set in one direction in the tunnel caught the mole; a trap set in the other direction in the tunnel was later covered with soil, evidently by a gopher. After the capture a thorough inspection of the area revealed no "raised" tunnels, typical of Scalopus. A series of Thomomys was taken in this area in sets placed in tunnels found under similar mounds. This locality was near the headquarters of the Club Sierra del Carmen in a parklike stand of oak timber in a cañon, at an elevation of 4950 ft. as recorded by our altimeter. The plant association was judged to be characteristic of the Upper Sonoran Life-zone, not far below the beginning of the Transition Life-zone. The area was heavily grazed by goats, hogs and horses and had little grass or other ground cover under the trees. The soil in this cañon was not deep and consisted of a rocky, marly mixture, pale red in color, evidently produced by weathering of the reddish volcanic rocks bordering the cañon.

The Sierra del Carmen is a high, igneous range, surrounded for the most part by Lower Sonoran plains and desert. Zoologically, these mountains are poorly known. Few collectors have been in the area; most of these have been afforded accommodations through the Club Sierra del Carmen (Carmen Mountain Hunting Club), the members of which have been especially interested in assisting naturalists. Several kinds of mammals are known only from this "biological island" including the pocket gopher mentioned above and the shrew, Sorex milleri. The finding of a mole in the higher elevations of this range suggests that moles may occur in other mountainous areas of Mexico.[Pg 21]

Assistance with field work is acknowledged from the Kansas University Endowment Association.

In studying Scalopus aquaticus texanus, I noted that Allen (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 3:221, April 29, 1891) based the original description on a single, unsexed specimen taken in Presidio County, Texas, by Wm. Lloyd in September, 1887. Later, Allen wrote (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 5:200, August 18, 1893) that a series of moles from Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, agreed essentially with the type. True (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 19:22, December 21, 1896) believed that the type was actually from Aransas County rather than Presidio County. This belief was shared by later workers. In checking the literature, I find that the collector of the type, Wm. Lloyd, who was obtaining specimens for George B. Sennett at the time, took other mammals in September as well as in October of 1887 in Presidio County (see Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 3:221, 223, 224, April 29, 1891) and birds there in June of 1887 (see Sennett, Auk, 5:43, January, 1888). I can find no evidence that Lloyd collected in or near Aransas County in 1887 and see no reason for doubting that the locality, Presidio County, as written on the original label of the type of S. a. texanus is correct. Mr. M. J. Carroll of the Texas State Historical Association advises me that in 1887, Presidio County was reduced to its present size by the creation of Brewster and Jeff Davis counties. Lloyd might have taken the mole in any one of these three Trans-Pecos counties. Even so, these counties are widely separated geographically from the range of other moles designated as S. a. texanus (see Davis, Amer. Midl. Nat., 27:386, March, 1942). The taking of S. montanus in the Sierra del Carmen immediately south of Trans-Pecos Texas leads me to think that Lloyd's mole might have been taken in a mountainous region within one of the three counties mentioned above. A description of Scalopus aquaticus texanus Allen follows:

Scalopus aquaticus texanus Allen

Remarks.—The type has been previously examined by True (op. cit.:44). The skin is faded and of little taxonomic worth. The anterior part of the skull is present along with both upper tooth-rows and most of the lower jaws. The teeth are well worn, indicative of old adulthood. In size, S. a. texanus appears closest to moles from southern Texas (Rockport) which previously were assigned to the subspecies Scalopus aquaticus texanus. The tooth-rows are of the same length, but the individual teeth of S. a. texanus are significantly larger.

The moles in southern Texas previously ascribed to Scalopus aquaticus texanus seem to be without a name and may be known as follows:

Scalopus aquaticus alleni new subspecies

[Pg 23]

Remarks.—This mole is named in honor of Dr. J. A. Allen in recognition for his work on Texas mammals. Grateful acknowledgment is made to those in charge of the collection of Recent mammals in the American Museum of Natural History for permitting me to examine the moles from Aransas County and the type specimen of Scalops argentatus texanus Allen.

Transmitted January 15, 1951.

23-6626

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