Sigmodon hispidus cienegae A. B. Howell
J. A. Allen (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 5:28, March 16, 1893) listed as Sigmodon hispidus arizonae Mearns one specimen from Granados, Sonora, at a time when S. h. cienegae had not been named. We have examined the specimen (5389 AMNH) which has the skull inside and which lacks external measurements. It was taken on November 16, 1890, and is darker than specimens of S. h. arizonae collected in September at Fort Verde, Arizona. The color is essentially as in specimens of S. h. cienegae from Fairbank, Arizona (March-taken specimens). Because of this agreement in color and because of the geographic origin of the specimen from Granados, we refer the animal to Sigmodon hispidus cienegae.
Sigmodon hispidus zanjonensis Goodwin
Goodwin (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 79:169, May 29, 1942) listed four specimens from Honduras (El Jaral, 2; and Las Ventanas, 2) as Sigmodon hispidus saturatus Bailey. Because these localities fall within the geographic range of S. h. zanjonensis we were lead to examine the specimens. Three are young and one (126113 AMNH from Las Ventanas) is an adult female. The underparts of the young are washed with rufous as in S. h. saturatus. The adult lacks this rufous as do specimens of S. h. zanjonensis and some specimens of S. h. saturatus. In the adult the color of the upper parts and size of the upper cheek-teeth are intermediate between the dark-backed, small-toothed S. h. saturatus and the paler-backed, large-toothed S. h. zanjonensis. The rostrum is intermediate in width but definitely nearer the broad condition which obtains in S. h. saturatus. The tail is long, actually and in relation to the body (total length 275, tail 130), as in S. h. zanjonensis to which we refer the specimens in question.
Oryzomys couesi couesi (Alston)
For alleged occurrence at Reforma in Oaxaca, México (Goldman, N. Amer. Fauna, 43:31, September 23, 1918), see under Oryzomys couesi mexicanus Allen.
Oryzomys couesi mexicanus J. A. Allen
Goldman (N. Amer. Fauna, 43, September 23, 1918) listed, as in the Field Museum of Natural History [= Chicago Natural History Museum] one specimen from Reforma, Oaxaca, under O. c. mexicanus (p. 35) and one specimen from the same place under O. c. couesi (p. 31). In the Chicago Natural History Museum we can find only one specimen. It is a young male, skull with skin, in which the last molar has not yet erupted, and bears the catalogue number 13654. It is, in our opinion, referable to O. c. mexicanus. Because we suspect that Goldman (op. cit.) by error listed this one specimen twice (once under O. c. couesi and once under O. c. mexicanus) it seems best to exclude Reforma, Oaxaca, from the geographic range of O. c. couesi.
Oryzomys alfaroi saturatior Merriam
A series of Oryzomys alfaroi in the U. S. Biological Surveys Collection obtained at Tumbala, 5000 ft., Chiapas, México, the type locality of Oryzomys alfaroi saturatior, contains individuals some of which Goldman (N. Amer. Fauna, 43:66, September 23, 1918) referred to the subspecies O. a. saturatior and one which he referred to O. a. palatinus. This latter specimen, to judge from the external measurements given by Goldman (loc. cit.), is No. 76328. In comparison with the other material which Goldman saw, we find the specimen to agree with O. a. palatinus in pale color and posterior concavity of the posterior border of the palate. In some other diagnostic cranial characters, it is indistinguishable from specimens of O. a. saturatior from the same locality, and in other characters, notably the slenderness of the rostrum, it is intermediate between the two subspecies concerned. In short, although we see the reasons for Goldman's subspecific identification of this individual, we think, in view of the structural intermediacy of the animal and the characters of the series en masse, that it is best referred to Oryzomys alfaroi saturatior.