Range.—Southeastern Texas, north of Matagorda Bay west to Lavaca County, north to Brazos and Walker counties thence east to Jefferson County, see [Figure 11]. Occurs from near sea level in Brazoria and Galveston counties, up to 500 feet in western part of range. Zonal range: Humid division of lower Austral (the western part of the Austroriparian Biotic Province of Dice, 1943:18-21).
Diagnosis.—Size medium to large for the species; mid-dorsal region Clove Brown (sooty in freshly captured specimens); some parts of mid-dorsal region all blackish; individual guard hairs of dorsum black-tipped, Deep Neutral Gray basally; underfur black-tipped with subterminal band of light buff, Neutral Gray at base; belly grayish-white, laterally Isabella Color; distal three-fourths of hairs in region of throat and chin white, proximal fourth light gray; in median region of belly distal half of individual hairs white, proximal half dark gray; vibrissae in most specimens black to base. Average and extreme cranial measurements of six adults from 7 mi. S La Belle are as follows: occipitonasal length, 18.9 (17.5-19.4); zygomatic breadth, 9.6 (9.1-9.9); postpalatal length, 6.8 (6.2-7.2); least interorbital breadth, 3.7 (3.4-3.9); length of incisive foramina, 4.0 (3.6-4.2); length of rostrum, 6.5 (6.1-6.8); breadth of braincase, 8.7 (8.3-8.9); depth of cranium, 6.7 (6.6-6.8); alveolar length of maxillary tooth-row, 3.1 (2.9-3.2). Average and extreme external measurements of four adults from Richmond are as follows: total length, 111.5 (108-118); length of tail vertebrae, 43.5 (41-47); length of body, 68 (67-71); length of hind foot, 14 (13-15); for photographs of the skull, see [Plate 2f], and [Plate 4g].
Comparisons.—Because B. t. subater intergrades only with B. t. taylori to the south and west, subater is compared only with taylori. Young adults of both subspecies in unworn pelage show best the colors that differentiate the two subspecies. Old adults of subater in worn pelage appear grayish, resembling taylori, and at that age, only certain cranial characters are of taxonomic use. Cranially, subater differs from taylori in: presphenoid not shaped like an hour-glass; parapterygoid processes thicker medially; interparietal diamond-shaped instead of elongated and compressed. Skull slightly larger in most measurements.
PLATE 1
| a. B. m. brunneus, ♀ ad., 10834, AMNH, Jalapa, Veracruz. b. B. m. grisescens, ♀ ad., 257080, USNM, Comayabuela, Honduras. c. B. m. handleyi, ♀ ad., 275597, USNM, Sacapulas, Guatemala. d. B. m. infernatis, ♀ ad., 91499, MZUM, Teotitlán, Oaxaca. e. B. m. musculus, ♀ ad., 45462, USNM, Colima, Colima. f. B. m. nigrescens, ♂ ad., 76834, USNM, Comitán, Chiapas. g. B. m. pallidus, ♀ ad., 4802, Texas A & M, Axochiapán, Morelos. h. B. m. pullus, ♀ ad., 71608, KU, 8 mi. S Condega, Nicaragua. i. B. t. allex, ♀ ad., 45453, USNM, Colima, Colima. |
PLATE 2
