Chapter XX: Introduction (19)

Comparison of the skull of the male with that of _M. f. nicaraguae_ has been made in the account of that subspecies. The skull of the male as compared with that of _M. f. tropicalis_ has shorter tympanic bullae, deeper braincase at anterior margin of basioccipital, lesser zygomatic and palatal breadth and smaller P4 and m1. The skull of the female is larger in every measurement taken except those reflecting width of the preorbital portion. This part is actually narrower but probably mainly because the females of _perda_ are younger than those of _tropicalis_. Features in which three skulls of subadults of _M. f. perda_ differ from the five adults of _M. f. goldmani_ and show no overlap are: lesser basilar length, lesser weight, greater relative length of upper tooth-rows, greater relative width of rostrum, greater relative length of rostrum, lesser mastoid and zygomatic breadths, lesser width, length and height of tympanic bullae; lesser outside length of P4 and greater relative depth of braincase at anterior margin of basioccipital and at posterior margin of M1. Features in which _perda_ averages less are: length of tooth-rows, interorbital breadth, orbitonasal length, relative zygomatic breadth, length of m1, outside and inside lengths of P4, width and length of M1, and depth of skull at posterior margin of M1. Features in which _perda_ averages more than _goldmani_ are: relative interorbital breadth, relative mastoid breadth and depth of skull at anterior margin of basioccipital. The length of the inner half of M1 averages the same. As compared with _goldmani_, the skull of the male of _perda_ is shorter, otherwise generally smaller, but relatively broader except across the zygomatic arches, and relatively deeper. The anterior margins of the tympanic bullae project slightly less from the braincase and the squamosals immediately in front of these bullae are slightly more convex ventrally.

_Remarks._--Described by Merriam in 1902 as a subspecies of _Putorius tropicalis_, the form _perda_ was regarded by Allen (1916:99) as not subspecifically distinct from _P. t. tropicalis_.

This is the eastern, lowland subspecies of the Tropical Life-zone, corresponding to _M. f. goldmani_ of the higher mountains just as _M. f. tropicalis_ corresponds to _M. f. frenata_ and _perotae_ of the high mountains and table land. The difference in size between _perda_ and _nicaraguae_ and between _perda_ and _tropicalis_ is slight. _M. f. perda_ is slightly less richly colored than _M. f. nicaraguae_ but has the color of the underparts more restricted and has a longer black tip on the tail. In these respects it is second only to _M. f. panamensis_ among Central American weasels. Evidence of intergradation with _goldmani_ is furnished by the specimens from Cobán, Guatemala, and the nearby locality San Cristóbal in Verapaz, Guatemala. Reduced size as compared with _goldmani_ suggests affinity with _perda_ but the greater width of the light-colored underparts, which averages 24 (extremes 18-32) per cent of the greatest width of the color of the upper parts, shows approach to _goldmani_. Farther north, in Chiapas, however, specimens of _perda_ from San Cristóbal and San Vicente are readily distinguishable from those of _goldmani_ taken a few miles away at Pinabete and near Teopisca. The latter two localities are, however, several thousand feet higher than San Cristóbal (Chiapas) and San Vicente.

Two of the nine skulls (only 3 adult) examined for malformation of the frontal sinuses reveal infestation by parasites.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 18, listed by localities from
north to south, and unless otherwise indicated in the United
States National Museum.

=Veracruz.= Catemaco, 1.

=Tabasco.= Teapa, 2 (1[7]).

=Chiapas.= San Cristóbal, 1; San Vicente, 1; no locality more
definite than state, 1.

=Yucatán.= Chichén-Itzá, 1[76].

=Guatemala=: Cobán, 2 (1[7], 1[4]); Finca la Providenci, S.
Cristóbal, Verapaz, 3[76]; central Guatemala, 1; no locality more
definite than Guatemala, 5 (2[7]).

=Mustela frenata nicaraguae= Allen

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 1, 25, 26, 27 and 30

_Mustela tropicalis nicaraguae_ Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
35:100, April 28, 1916.

_Putorius tropicalis_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 24:661,
1908.

_Mustela frenata nicaraguae_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington
Publ. 473:109, November 20, 1936.

_Type._--Male, subadult, skull and skin; no. 30754, Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist., Matagalpa, Nicaragua; April 16, 1910; obtained by W.
B. Richardson; original no., 712.

The skull (plates 25-27, 30) of the type specimen lacks the entire
right zygomatic arch. Otherwise it is complete. The teeth all are
present and unbroken. The skin is complete and unfaded but only
partly stuffed.

_Range._--Honduras and Nicaragua. Altitudinal and zonal limits
unknown. See figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f.
costaricensis_ and _M. f. goldmani_ in shorter black tip of tail
(not more than 35 per cent of length of tail) and lesser width
(usually not more than 7 mm.) of tympanic bulla; from _M. f.
perda_ in greater extent of color of underparts (22 or more per
cent of greatest width of color of upper parts), shorter black tip
on tail (not more than 35 per cent as long as tail) and narrower
skull, the mastoid breadth in adult males being less than 23.9 and
the zygomatic breadth less than 27.

_Description._--_Size._--Male: Average and extreme measurements of
five subadults and one young (four from Matagalpa and one from San
Rafel del Norte) are: Total length, 450 (420-480); length of tail,
178 (150-190); length of hind foot, 48 (46-50). Tail averages 65
(extremes 56-69) per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind
foot (measurements from dried skins) more than basal length.

Female: Measurements unrecorded.

_Externals._--As described in _Mustela frenata goldmani_, except
that hairiness of foot soles (between that shown in figures 20 and
21) is less, slightly less even than in _M. f. perda_.

_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata goldmani_ except that:
Back near (_n_) Argus Brown, or Carbon Brown, tone 4 of Oberthür
and Dauthenay, pl. 342. Underparts Ochraceous-Buff. Least width of
color of underparts, in four males, young, subadult and adult, 24
(extremes 22-26) per cent of greatest width of color of upper
parts; the corresponding per cent in one female is 32; black tip
of tail, in two subadult males, averaging 29 (extremes, 28-30) per
cent of length of tail-vertebrae; corresponding per cent in one
female, 36.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on type specimen, one adult
topotype [?] and one subadult from San Rafel del Norte): See
measurements and plates 25-27, 30. As described in _Mustela
frenata perda_ except that: Weight, 4.2 grams (estimated for
adults); basilar length 45.0 (44.8-45.5); interorbital breadth
more or less than distance between foramen opticum and anterior
margin of tympanic bulla; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far
posterior to foramen ovale as width of four to five upper
incisors; length of tympanic bulla not less than length of lower
molar and premolar tooth-row; anterior margin of masseteric fossa
below anterior margin of m2 or posterior to that tooth.

Female: Skull unknown.

Comparison of the skull of the male with that of _M. f. costaricensis_ is made in the account of that subspecies. As compared with that of _M. f. perda_, which it most closely resembles, the skull of the male has a narrower, shorter rostrum, lesser interorbital breadth, lesser mastoid and zygomatic breadths and slightly shallower braincase, measured at anterior margin of basioccipital. The tympanic bullae are slightly less projected, at their anterior margins, from the braincase and the squamosal, directly anterior to each, is a little more convex ventrally. The skull of _M. f. nicaraguae_ is, then, slightly shorter than that of _M. f. perda_ and relatively narrower.

_Remarks._--When naming this form, Allen (1916:100) characterized it as "Similar to _M. tropicalis tropicalis_ but general coloration much darker and the white face markings somewhat reduced in area." In the sentence preceding the one quoted, _Putorius tropicalis perdus_ was placed as a synonym of _Putorius tropicalis tropicalis_. _M. f. nicaraguae_ and _M. f. perda_ are nearly alike in color and color pattern but differ in cranial characters. _M. f. perda_ and _M. f. tropicalis_ are widely different in color and more especially in color pattern but differ only slightly in cranial characters. The aggregate difference between _perda_ and _nicaraguae_ is less than that between _perda_ and _tropicalis_. All three are lowland forms and each is smaller than the adjacent highland forms, namely, _M. f. goldmani_, _macrophonius_, _perotae_ and _frenata_.

The weasels from Honduras definitely are not typical of _nicaraguae_ as it is known from the specimens from Nicaragua itself. The specimens from the state of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, are larger. Some are darker than topotypical _nicaraguae_. The dorsal outline of the skull is more nearly flat (less convex) in some. In these and several other differential features studied, the average of specimens from Tegucigalpa is intermediate toward _goldmani_, but everything considered the animals seem best placed with _nicaraguae_ rather than with _goldmani_ or _perda_, to which latter also, they show some resemblance. With better material from Nicaragua and additional specimens from Salvador (here referred to _goldmani_) a restudy of all the material now referred to the three races named would be profitable. Aims of this restudy might be to determine if a highland race additional to _goldmani_ should be recognized and if the lowland races _perda_ and _nicaraguae_ differ from one another in the way that the existing specimens indicate.

In the five males from Matagalpa, the narrow white band in front of each ear is confluent with the color of the underparts on one side only in one specimen and on both sides in two specimens. None of these bands is confluent with the white patch between the eyes. A dark spot at the angle of the mouth is present on one side in one specimen. The corresponding area is dark colored in all other specimens but not separated from the color of the upper parts. In the specimen from San Rafel del Norte the white bands are not confluent with the color of the underparts. The female from Mambacho has the mentioned bands confluent with the color of the underparts. This female approaches _M. f. costaricensis_ in the dark color of the upper parts but has more extensive white facial markings than some specimens from much farther north. Like a female seen of _M. f. costaricensis_, this one has a "frosted" nape but the white hairs on the back of the neck are less numerous than in the female of _M. f. costaricensis_.

_M. f. nicaraguae_ in typical form, then, is thought of as a small, lowland, tropical subspecies only slightly differentiated from _M. f. perda_. By reason of its intermediate characters, it constitutes a link between the lowland forms, and the larger animals called _M. f. goldmani_ and _M. f. costaricensis_.

None of the four skulls from Nicaragua shows signs of infestation of the frontal sinuses by parasites.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 16, listed by localities from
north to south. Specimens are in the American Museum of Natural
History, unless otherwise indicated.

=Honduras=: Alto Cantoral, 2; Cerro Grande La Paz, 1. La Flor
Archaga, 1[75]; Comayagüela, 1[75]; vicinity of Tegucigalpa, 2; no
locality more definite than Honduras, 1[4].

=Nicaragua=: San Rafel del Norte, 1; Matagalpa, 6; Ma[o]mbacho, 1.

=Mustela frenata costaricensis= Goldman

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30

_Mustela costaricensis_ Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 25:9,
January 23, 1912.

_Mustela brasiliensis_, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 14(ser.
4):374, 1874.

_Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis frenatus_, Coues, Fur-bearing
animals, p. 142, 1877 (part).

_Putorius affinis_, Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:31, June 30, 1896
(part).

_Mustela affinis costaricensis_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916; Lönnberg, Arkiv för Zool., 14(no.
4):16, 1921.

_Mustela frenata costaricensis_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington
Publ. 473:109, November 20, 1936.

_Type._--Male, young, skull and skin; no. 13770/37149, U. S. Nat.
Mus.; San José, Costa Rica; obtained by C. H. Van Patten.

The skull (plates 28-30) is complete and unbroken. All teeth are
present and unworn. The skin apparently has been remade. It lacks
the distal two-thirds of the tail. The head is somewhat shrunken.
The color is possibly faded but if so only to a slight degree.
Otherwise, the skin is in good condition. The orange color of the
underparts is so intense as to suggest that the full, adult pelage
has not been acquired. No white markings are present on the face.
There is no sex mark on the label attached to the skin but the
size and proportions of the skull and the scrotal pouch on the
skin prove that the specimen is a male. The presence of sutures on
the dorsal face of the rostrum and the short, wide, and low
sagittal crest show the specimen to be young.

_Range._--Costa Rica. Altitudinal and zonal range unknown. See
figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f.
panamensis_ in lighter color of upper parts (tone 2 rather than
tone 4 of Reddish Black of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 344) and
longitudinally flat interorbital region of skull; from _M. f.
nicaraguae_ in darker color of upper parts (of Oberthür and
Dauthenay, tone 2 of pl. 344 rather than tone 4 of pl. 342) and
greater width (more than 7) of tympanic bulla.

_Description._--_Size._--Male: No collector's measurements
available of fully grown animals. Estimated measurements of adult
males: Total length, 470; length of tail, 165; length of hind foot
(taken from dried skins of 3 adults), 52 (50-52). Tail estimated
to average 55 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind
foot more or less than (about equal to) basal length.

_Female_: A subadult or adult, from the Candelaria Mountains, and
a subadult from Irazú, measure, respectively: Total length, 370,
385; length of tail, 130, 150; length of hind foot, 40, 31. Tail
59 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot probably
about equal to basal length.

The estimated differences in external measurements of the two
sexes are: Total length, 92; length of tail, 25; length of hind
foot, 16 (probably average difference is less).

_Externals._--As described in _M. f. panamensis_ (figure 21)
except that foot soles are slightly more hairy.

_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata panamensis_ except
that: back is near Reddish Black, tone 2 of Oberthür and
Dauthenay, pl. 344; chin, lips, and throat white or whitish;
remainder of underparts near (_c_) Ochraceous-Buff; color of
underparts rarely extending distally onto toes of forefeet. Least
width of color of underparts, in eleven specimens, averaging 23
(10-36) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts; black
tip of tail, in six specimens, averaging 36 (31-38) per cent of
length of tail-vertebrae.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on 2 adults, no. 3.2.1.6. from
vicinity of San José and no. 11408, U. S. Nat. Mus., from "Costa
Rica"): See measurements and plates 25-30; weight, 5.9 grams;
basilar length 49 +; 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 in undiseased skulls less
than length of upper premolars (less than distance between
posterior borders of P2 and P4) and less than width of
basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum
posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth more or less than
distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic
bulla; breadth of rostrum more or less (about equal to) length of
tympanic bulla; least width of palate less than length of P4;
anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen
ovale as width of 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla less
than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; tympanic
bulla longer or shorter than (about equal to) lower molar and
premolar tooth-row and longer or shorter than (about equal to)
rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa directly below
posterior border of m2.

Female: Skull of adult unknown.

Comparison of the skull of the male with that of _M. f. panamensis_ has been made in the account of that subspecies. As compared with that of _M. f. nicaraguae_ the skull of _M. f. costaricensis_ is heavier and in every measurement taken is larger. The skull is generally more massive and it follows that most measurements of depth and width are greater in relation to the basilar length as well as actually greater. The individual teeth are larger and the tympanic bullae wider and at their anterior ends are more projected from the braincase. Indeed the skull is more like that of _M. f. goldmani_ than like that of _M. f. nicaraguae_.

_Remarks._--The half dozen ill-prepared skins, with partial skulls inside, of this form in the United States National Museum long were referred either to _Mustela brasiliensis_ or _Mustela affinis_. It was not until 1912 when Goldman studied these specimens that the distinctive characters of the Costa Rican weasel were recognized and made the basis of the name _costaricensis_.

_M. f. costaricensis_ is well differentiated from _M. f. nicaraguae_ and _M. f. goldmani_ which occur to the northward and from _M. f. panamensis_ which occurs to the southward and is a large, heavy-skulled, dark-colored animal with white facial markings restricted or absent. In the type specimen and the female from the Candelaria Mountains the white facial markings are only narrow facial bars or a few white hairs, but in the young male from Cervantes there is a well developed bar 6 millimeters wide on each side of the face and a separate nasofrontal spot, 10 x 12 mm. The young female from Cachí has a V-shaped frontonasal spot, on the right side of the face a white bar 5 mm. wide and 17 mm. long connected with the color of the underparts, and on the left side a white spot in front of the ear and another between the ear and eye. White facial markings were not recorded in the other specimens. The color of the upper parts is only a little less dark than those of _M. f. panamensis_. Owing to the numerous white hairs on the dorsal side of the neck, the nape of the female from the Candelaria Mountains has a frosted appearance not present in other specimens.

_M. f. costaricensis_ is a large animal and among its geographic neighbors is approached in size only by a specimen of _panamensis_ from Boquete, Panamá. Also the young male from Cervantes suggests _panamensis_ in the less flattened interorbital region, but even so is more like _costaricensis_. The small size of two young males, one from Navarro and the other from the vicinity of San José, is suggestive of _M. f. nicaraguae_. However, the large size of most of the specimens and the configuration of the skull are more as in _M. f. goldmani_ than in _M. f. nicaraguae_ and thus suggest that the known specimens are of high mountain subspecies. The long black tip of the tail is another point of resemblance to _M. f. goldmani_, the high mountain subspecies to the north. Perhaps in the lowlands of Costa Rica, there are weasels of another subspecies.

Of the eight skulls examined for malformation of the frontal sinuses, each of the two adults and two subadults shows signs of having the frontal sinuses infested with parasites.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 14, listed by localities from
north to south.

=Costa Rica=: Irazú (Frasu or Irasu on label), 3000 M., 1[4];
Cervantes, 1[2]; San José, 1[91]; vicinity of San José, 2[7];
Azahar Cartago, 1[78]; Tucurrique, 1[7]; Cachí, 1[7]; El Muñco [=
Muñeco?] (Río Nivarro [= Navarro?]), 4000 ft., 10 mi. S Cartago,
Caribbean Slope, 1[76]; Navarro, 1[91]; Candelaria Mts., 1[75]; no
locality more definite than Costa Rica, 3[91].

=Mustela frenata panamensis= Hall

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 1, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30

_Mustela frenata panamensis_ Hall, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
45:139, September 9, 1932; Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington
Publ. 473:109, November 20, 1936.

_Mustela brasiliensis_, Alston, Biol. Cent. Amer., Mammalia, p. 78,
1879.

_Putorius affinis_, Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 39:49, April,
1902; Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 28:143, July 10,
1914.

_Mustela affinis_, Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 25:10,
January 23, 1912; Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 28:143,
July 10, 1914.

_Mustela affinis costaricensis_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., 35:101, April 28, 1916; Goldman, Smithsonian Miscel. Col.,
69 (no. 5): 161, 1920.

_Type._--Female, subadult, skull and skin; no. 170970, U. S. Nat.
Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; Río Indio, Canal Zone, near Gatún,
Panamá; February 17, 1911; obtained by E. A. Goldman; original no.
20897.

The skull is complete and unbroken. The left lower incisor is
broken off but all the other teeth are present and entire. The
skin is well made and seems to be in faded, worn, first, adult
pelage.

_Range._--Sea level (type locality) to 5800 feet (Boquete, see
Bangs [1902:49]); Upper Tropical and Lower Tropical life-zones of
Panamá. See figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from both _M. f.
meridana_ and _M. f. costaricensis_ in darker tone (tone 4 of
Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 344) of color of upper parts and in
convex dorsal outline of skull (Compare figures of mentioned
subspecies on plates 25-27).

_Description._--_Size._--Male: Two adults from Boquete in the
Museum of Comparative Zoölogy, nos. 10112 and 10113, measure,
respectively, as follows: Total length, 480 and 400; length of
tail, 170 and 143; length of hind foot, 52 and 43. Hind feet of
two other adult males measure 46 on dried skins. Tail, in two
specimens mentioned above, is 55 and 56 per cent as long as head
and body. Length of hind foot, in each of three adults, slightly
longer than basal length. Corresponding measurements of no. 178970
from Mt. Pirre are: 422, 164, 50. Tail 64 per cent (same per cent
as in young male, no. 137514 from Boquete) as long as head and
body, and hind foot longer than basal length.

Female: An adult and a young from Chiriquí, nos. 18434 and 18435
(Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia), measure, respectively: Total
length, 372, 389; length of tail, 138, 144; length of hind foot,
42, 41. The type specimen measures: Total length, 408; length of
tail, 159; length of hind foot, 46.5. Tail 64 per cent as long as
head and body, and hind foot longer than basal length.

The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes
from the vicinity of Boquete are: Total length, 59; length of
tail, 15; length of hind foot, 6.

_Externals._--Longest facial vibrissae black and extending beyond
posterior border of ear; carpal vibrissae wholly, or in part,
black and extending as far as hypothenar pad; hairiness of
foot-soles as shown in figure 21.

_Color._--Usually, posterior fourth of each upper lip and
sometimes few hairs in front of ear, white; sides and top of head
and neck posteriorly to, or behind, shoulders, black; dark areas
at angles of mouth confluent with color of upper parts; tip of
tail, black; remainder of upper parts near (_n_) Bay of Ridgway
and Reddish Black, tone 4, pl. 344 of Oberthür and Dauthenay; chin
and lips, whitish; remainder of underparts Warm Buff or near (16´
_c_) Ochraceous-Buff; near (12) Salmon-Orange in juveniles and
small young; color of underparts extending distally on posterior
sides of forelegs to wrists, but not to soles, and on hind legs to
or slightly below knees. Least width of color of underparts, in
seven specimens, averaging 18 (extremes 11-28) per cent of
greatest width of color of upper parts; black tip of tail, in five
adults and subadults, averaging 45 (extremes 41-50) per cent of
length of tail-vertebrae.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on three adults from Boquete): See
measurements and plates 25-30; weight, 5 (4.5-5.4) grams; basilar
length, 45.2 (42.8-48.3); zygomatic breadth more or less 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 more
than length of upper premolars and more 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 approximately same (more or less than)
length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate less than length
of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to
foramen ovale as width of 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 upper incisors; height of
tympanic bulla less than distance from its anterior margin to
foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more or slightly less than
(approximately equal to) length of lower molar and premolar
tooth-row or length of rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric
fossa directly below posterior fourth of m2.

Female (based on subadult, type specimen and one adult from
Siola): See measurements; weight, 3.3 and 2.1 grams; basilar
length, 41.3 and 39.3; zygomatic breadth more than distance
between condylar foramen and M1 and more or less than (about equal
to) that between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of
tympanic bulla; postorbital breadth more than combined length of
upper premolars or than width of basioccipital measured from
medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite;
least width of palate more than length of P4 (less in the adult);
anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen
ovale as width of five upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla
less than (about half) distance from its anterior margin to
foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla less than length of lower
molar and premolar tooth-row or than rostrum.

The skull of the one adult female from Chiriquí is 58 per cent lighter than the average of the two adult males.

The skull of the male of _M. f. panamensis_ as compared with that of _M. f. meridana_, is heavier and averages larger in nearly every measurement taken. Relative to basilar length, tooth-rows, orbitonasal length, interorbital breadth and zygomatic breadth averaging narrower. Mastoid breadth always narrower. Tympanic bullae longer, narrower, and usually slightly less protruded. P4 and m1 larger. Dorsal outline of skull, viewed laterally, more convex. Postorbital breadth actually and relatively greater. Postorbital processes, mastoid processes, and sagittal crest not so well developed. Differences between skulls of females, in so far as known, similar to those described between males.

As compared with _M. f. costaricensis_, _M. f. panamensis_ has a lighter skull averaging smaller in every measurement taken except interorbital breadth, which is greater. Relative to basilar length, width of rostrum, interorbital breadth and depth of skull at plane of upper molars, less. Tympanic bullae shorter, narrower, less protruded. P4, M1, and m1 larger. Dorsal outline of skull, viewed laterally, more convex. Postorbital breadth relatively and actually greater. Postorbital processes, mastoid processes, sagittal crest and lambdoidal crest less developed. No skull of an adult female of _M. f. costaricensis_ is available for comparison.

_Remarks._--This subspecies had not been recognized by previous workers because specimens from Panamá were supposed to be _Mustela affinis_ Gray up until 1916, when Allen (1916:100) restricted the type locality of _M. affinis_ to Bogotá, Colombia. At that time Allen referred specimens from Panamá to _Mustela 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 approach _M. f. costaricensis_ in 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 of _M. f. meridana_ that 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 in _panamensis_ than 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. panamensis_ is one of the two blackest weasels; _M. f. aureoventris_ is 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 subgenus _Mustela_. 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. panamensis_ is clearly a link between the North and South American subspecies and _panamensis_ intergrades 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 in _M. f. costaricensis_. The smaller size of skull and teeth of no. 178970 from Mt. Pirre are points of resemblance to _M. f. meridana_.

The type specimen was selected from a region where _M. f. panamensis_ is 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]); Calovébora, 1[7] (locality not
found, possibly misspelling of Calovébora); no locality more
definite than Panamá, 1[4].

=Mustela frenata meridana= Hollister

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 25, 26, 27, 37, 38 and 39

_Mustela meridana_ Hollister, 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 (plates 25 and 26) 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 figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _Mustela
africana stolzmanni_ by absence of median, longitudinal, abdominal
stripe of same color as upper parts, presence of p2 and two roots,
rather than one root, on P2; from _M. frenata panamensis_ in
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); from _M. 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; from _M. 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
figure 21.

_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata panamensis_ except
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
plates 25-27; 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
plates 37-39; 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 of _M. f. panamensis_ and _affinis_ have been made in the accounts of those subspecies. As compared with the skull of the male of _M. f. aureoventris_, that of _meridana_ averages smaller in every measurement taken. Indeed, none of the skulls of _meridana_ equals that of _aureoventris_ in 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 in _meridana_. 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 with _M. f. affinis_ and most of the differential characters which he ascribed to _meridana_ were merely "more than" or "less than" in _affinis_. In _affinis_, Hollister included specimens from Chiriquí, Panamá, and the coast of Venezuela. The specimens from these three places were referred by Allen (1916:101) to _Mustela affinis costaricensis_, and he restricted (_op. cit._:100) the type locality of _Mustela affinis affinis_ to Bogotá, Colombia, and synonymized _Mustela meridana_ with _M. a. affinis_. Hollister probably would not have named _meridana_ had he had specimens from Bogotá for comparison and had he regarded them as topotypes of _affinis_ for the difference is slight. Nevertheless, within the large geographic range of _M. f. meridana_ there 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 true _panamensis_. San Julián is situated at a relatively low elevation on the coast of Venezuela.

_M. f. meridana_ so closely resembles _M. f. affinis_ that the writer has no quarrel with anyone who would synonymize _meridana_. However, as represented by topotypes, the two races unquestionably are, _on the average_, different, and specimens from the southeastern part of the range of _affinis_ probably are individually distinguishable from topotypes of _meridana_.

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 of _panamensis_, 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-tepui, 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.

=Mustela frenata affinis= Gray

Long-tailed Weasel

Plate 30

_Mustela affinis_ Gray, 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 (plate 30) 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 figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _Mustela
africana stolzmanni_ by 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; from _M. 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; from _M. f. aureoventris_ by lighter-colored upper
parts (tone 2 rather than tone 4, pl. 344, Reddish Black of
Oberthür and Dauthenay); from _M. f. macrura_ by 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 in _Mustela 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 in _Mustela 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 in _Mustela frenata meridana_.

_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata panamensis_ except
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 plate 30. As described in
_Mustela frenata meridana_ except 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 in _meridana_ where 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 with _M. f. meridana_ the 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 of _affinis_ is longer and broader, but the facial region is actually, as well as relatively, smaller. As compared with the skull of the male of _M. f. aureoventris_, that of _M. f. affinis_ is about the same in basilar length. However, in no specimen of _affinis_ are the measurements of length of tooth-rows or breadth of rostrum, actually, or relatively, as great as in _aureoventris_. 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 to _macrura_, are nearly as dark as typical _affinis_, approach _affinis_ in cranial characters, and indicate intergradation of _affinis_ with _macrura_.

_Remarks._--_Mustela affinis_ was named by John Edward Gray in 1874 (p. 375) on the basis of a specimen from New Granada. Although usually synonymized with _Mustela brasiliensis_ by 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 of _Mustela 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 name _Mustela frenata meridana_. _M. f. affinis_, in common with specimens from the northern part of the range of _macrura_ has large teeth. Weasels of all of the region from Quito to Bogotá have large teeth. To the north there is the smaller-toothed _meridana_ and to the south the smaller-toothed _macrura_ grading into the still smaller-toothed _agilis_, and _boliviensis_.

Two skins, without corresponding skulls, from Caqueta are lighter colored than any others of _affinis_; 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 of _affinis_ are needed to ascertain the degree to which _affinis_ and _meridana_ differ 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]).

=Mustela frenata aureoventris= Gray

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 27, 28 and 29

_Mustela aureoventris_ Gray, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1864:55, pl.
8, 1864; Gray, Proc. Zoöl. Soc. London, 1865:115, 1865.

_Putorius (Gale) brasiliensis_ var. _aequatorialis_ Coues,
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.