Thomomys perpallidus dissimilis Goldman, Journ. Washington Acad. Sci., 21:425, October 19, 1931.
Thomomys bottae dissimilis Goldman, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 48:156, October 31, 1935.
Thomomys perpallidus aureus Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna 39:75, November 15, 1915; Barnes, Bull. Univ. Utah, 12 (No. 15):85, April, 1922; Bull. Univ. Utah, 17 (No. 12):100, June, 1927.
Type.—Female, adult, skin and skull, No. 158526, U. S. National Museum (Biological Surveys Collection); E slope Mount Ellen, Henry Mountains, 8,000 ft., Garfield County, Utah; October 15, 1908; collected by W. H. Osgood; original number 3677 (after Goldman, type not seen).
Range.—Known only from the type locality.
Diagnosis.—Size small (see measurements). Color: Upper parts Light Buff, grading over sides to nearly white on underparts; underparts lightly washed with Pale Buff, more marked in inguinal and pectoral regions; postauricular patches grayish black; nose, chin, cheeks and top of head dusky; front feet, hind feet and distal half of tail white. Skull: Small and weak; zygomatic arches long, but lying close to skull, giving it a slender appearance; supraoccipital markedly projecting posteriorly from lambdoidal suture; rostrum relatively long and narrow; nasals long; tympanic bullae well inflated ventrally, with a median ventral ridge; pterygoid hamulae weak; interpterygoid space narrowly V-shaped; upper incisors short and light in color; molariform teeth relatively large.
Comparisons.—Comparison of one topotype of dissimilis with topotypes of Thomomys bottae aureus shows it to differ as follows: Size smaller throughout. Color: Lighter dorsally and on sides, pale buff as contrasted with rich ochraceous; underparts more buffy. Skull: Smaller in every measurement taken; zygomatic arches markedly less widely spreading; braincase narrower and more vaulted; tympanic bullae with a median ventral ridge as opposed to smooth; pterygoid hamulae slenderer; interpterygoid space narrowly V-shaped as opposed to U-shaped; upper incisors smaller and lighter in color.
Compared with topotypes of Thomomys bottae absonus, dissimilis differs in the following features: Size smaller in every measurement taken. Color: Lighter throughout. Skull: Smaller in every measurement taken, except alveolar length of upper molar series which is greater; skull narrower and weaker; zygomatic arches weaker and less widely spreading; tympanic bullae more ridged on ventral surface and shorter (more rounded) in antero-posterior measurement; upper incisors shorter and narrower; molariform teeth larger.
Thomomys bottae dissimilis resembles T. b. osgoodi more than any other subspecies but differs in: Size smaller throughout. Color: Slightly darker dorsally. Skull: Smaller in every measurement taken, and slenderer; rostrum relatively longer; zygomatic arches weaker, and less widely spreading, more converging anteriorly; tympanic bullae less rounded, more ridged medioventrally; upper incisors shorter but narrower; molariform teeth smaller.
Remarks.—The Henry Mountains, in eastern Garfield County, are in the Colorado River drainage. The surrounding country is desertlike and cut by gullies and washes with sheer escarpments and precipitous draws. The type locality of dissimilis is possibly in an isolated area. Only three specimens were available to Goldman when he named dissimilis. He commented on the close resemblance to osgoodi which inhabits the country to the north. I have examined only one of the three specimens available to Goldman. Although I can see the characters that he mentioned, I am not fully convinced that dissimilis is separable from osgoodi. Two specimens from Escalante, Garfield County, are referred to absonus, but they show intergradation with dissimilis.