A Synopsis of the North American Lagomorpha Part 17

LEPUS ARCTICUS PORSILDI Nelson.

1934. _Lepus arcticus porsildi_ Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Was.h.i.+ngton, 47:83, March 8, type from near Julianehaab, 61 20' N lat., Greenland.

_Marginal records._--Greenland (A. H. Howell, 1936:332): Sukkertoppen; _Neria, 61 36' N lat_.; 60 42' N lat.

=Lepus townsendii=

White-tailed Jack Rabbit

Total length, 565-655; tail, 66-112; hind foot, 145-172; ear from notch (dry), 96-113. Upper parts grayish brown; tail all white or with dusky or buffy mid-dorsal stripe which does not extend onto back; white in winter in northern parts of its range. Two adult males weighed 2945 and 2494 grams (Orr, 1940:43) and there are 3 to 6 young in a litter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 46. Distribution of _Lepus townsendii_.

1. _Lepus townsendii townsendii_ 2. _Lepus townsendii campanius_ ]

LEPUS TOWNSENDII CAMPANIUS Hollister.

1837. _Lepus campestris_ Bachman, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia, 7:349, not of Meyer, 1790; type locality plains of the Saskatchewan, probably near Carlton House.

1915. _Lepus townsendii campanius_ Hollister, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 28:70, March 12.

_Marginal records_ (Nelson, 1909:78, unless otherwise noted).--Saskatchewan: Indian Head (Nelson, 1909:77). Manitoba: Carberry (_ibid._). Ontario: Rainy River (Anderson, 1947:100).

Minnesota (Swanson, Surber and Roberts, 1945:97): Polk County; Otter Tail County; Sherburne County: Was.h.i.+ngton County. Illinois: Blanding, 6 mi. WNW Hanover (Hoffmeister, 1948:1). Kansas: Red Fork, 60 mi. W Fort Riley; Greensburg (Brown, 1940:387). New Mexico: "near" Taos (V. Bailey, 1932:47); Hopewell. Colorado: Antonito; Fort Garland; Villa Grove; Salida; Como; _Denver_; Mt. Whitely, 25 mi. N Kremmling. Wyoming: Spring Creek; Big Piney; head Glenn Creek, Yellowstone Nat'l Park. Alberta: Great Plains region (Anderson, 1947:99).

LEPUS TOWNSENDII TOWNSENDII Bachman.

1839. _Lepus townsendii_ Bachman, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia, 8(pt. 1):90, pl. 2, type from Fort Walla Walla, near present town of Wallula, Walla Walla County, Was.h.i.+ngton.

1904. _Lepus campestris sierrae_ Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 17:132, July 14, type from 7800 ft., Hope Valley, Alpine County, California. Regarded as inseparable from _L. t.

townsendii_ by Orr, Occas. Papers, California Acad. Sci., 19:42, May 25, 1940.

_Marginal records_ (Nelson, 1909:82, unless otherwise noted).--British Columbia: Fairview, Okanagan Valley. Idaho: Rathdrum Prairie (Rust, 1946:322); Lemhi River; Teton Basin.

Wyoming: Hamsfork; Henrys Fork. Colorado: Hot Sulphur Springs; Mt.

Baldy; Crested b.u.t.te; Mill City. Utah: Kanab. Nevada (Hall, 1946:600): Hamilton; Desatoya Mts.; Santa Rosa Mts. California: Parker Creek, 6300 ft., Warner Mts. Nevada (Hall, 1946:600): 8600 ft., 3 mi. S Mt. Rose; 8900 ft., Lapon Canyon, Mt. Grant; Mt.

Magruder. California (Orr, 1940:43): Tuolumne Meadows; Woodfords; Tahoe City; 4700 ft., Steele Meadows. Oregon: Antelope. Was.h.i.+ngton: Manson (Dalquest, 1948:382).

=Lepus californicus=

Black-tailed Jack Rabbit

Total length, 465-630; tail, 50-112; hind foot, 112-145; ear from notch (dry), 99-131. Upper parts gray to blackish; tail with black mid-dorsal stripe extending onto back; never all white in winter. On the tableland of Mexico and in the southwestern United States where this species occurs together with the white-sided jack rabbits, _L. californicus_ can be recognized by the terminal black patch on the outside of each ear and by the less extensive area of white on the flank. To the eastward, in Tamaulipas, where only the black-tailed jack rabbit occurs, it too, has extensively white flanks and some individuals lack the terminal black patch on the ear.

A certain means for distinguis.h.i.+ng the skulls of the black-tailed jack rabbit from those of all of the white-sided jack rabbits has not yet been found. The same is true of the skulls of the white-tailed jack rabbit and the black-tailed jack rabbit in the Great Basin region of Nevada. The skulls, at least of adults, of these two species, in the region east of the Rocky Mountains can be readily distinguished by the pattern of infolding of the enamel on the front of the first upper incisor teeth; _L. townsendii_ has a simple groove on the anterior face of the tooth and _L. californicus_, east of the Rocky Mountains, has a bifurcation, or even trifurcation, of the infold that can readily be seen by examining the occlusal surface of the incisor.

In Arizona, Vorhies and Taylor (1933:478) found the weight of 23 adult males to average 5.1 (4.4-6.1) lbs. In that state, 70 pregnant females averaged 2.24 (1-6) young per litter and the authors (_op. cit._) thought that a female had three or four litters each year.

LEPUS CALIFORNICUS ALTAMIRAE Nelson.

1904. _Lepus merriami altamirae_ Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 17:109, May 18, type from Alta Mira, Tamaulipas. Known from type locality only.

1951. _Lepus californicus altamirae_, Hall, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus.

Nat. Hist., 5:45, October 1, 1951.

LEPUS CALIFORNICUS ASELLUS Miller.

1899. _Lepus asellus_ Miller, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, p. 380, September 29, type from San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi.

1909. _Lepus californicus asellus_, Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, 29:150, August 31.

_Marginal records_ (Nelson, 1909:151).--Coahuila: Jaral. Nuevo Leon: Miquihuana. San Luis Potosi: Rio Verde. Aguascalientes: Chicalote.

Zacatecas: Valparaiso.

LEPUS CALIFORNICUS BENNETTII Gray.

1844. _Lepus bennettii_ Gray, Zoology Voy. _Sulphur_, p. 35, pl. 14, type from San Diego, San Diego County, California.

1909. _Lepus californicus bennetti_, Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, 29:136, August 31.

_Marginal records._--California: Mt. Pinos (Orr, 1940:73); Arroyo Seco, Pasadena (Orr, 1940:74); San Felipe Valley (_ibid._); Jac.u.mba (Nelson, 1909:137), Baja California: San Quintin (Nelson, 1909:137).

Northward along coast at least to California: Montalvo (Orr, 1940:73).

LEPUS CALIFORNICUS CALIFORNICUS Gray.

1837. _Lepus californica_ Gray, Charlesworth's Mag. Nat. Hist., 1:586, type from "St. Antoine," California (probably on coastal slope of mts. near the Mission of San Antonio, Jolon, Monterey County).

1926. _Lepus californicus vigilax_ Dice, Occas. Papers Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan, 166:11, February 11, type from b.a.l.l.s Ferry, Shasta County, California.

_Marginal records._--Oregon (Nelson, 1909:132): Drain; Grants Pa.s.s.

California (Orr, 1940:68-69): Callahan, Scott River; 3300 ft, Lymans, NW of Lyonsville; Dry Creek, Oroville-Chico Road; Snelling; Hernandez; Morro; _Carmel Point_; _Bolinas Bay_; _Freestone_; _Sherwood_; _Ferndale_; 3 mi. W Arcata. Oregon: Rogue River Valley (Nelson, 1909:132).

_Lepus californicus curti_ Hall.

1951. _Lepus californicus curti_ Hall, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat.

Hist., 5:42, October 1, 1951, type from 88 mi. S and 10 mi. W Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Known from type locality only.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 47. Distribution of _Lepus californicus_ and _Lepus insularis_.

1. _L. c. wallawalla_ 2. _L. c. californicus_ 3. _L. c. deserticola_ 4. _L. c. richardsonii_ 5. _L. c. bennettii_ 6. _L. c. martirensis_ 7. _L. c. xanti_ 8. _L. c. sheldoni_ 9. _L. c. magdalenae_ 10. _L. c. eremicus_ 11. _L. c. texia.n.u.s_ 12. _L. c. melanotis_ 13. _L. c. merriami_ 14. _L. c. asellus_ 15. _L. c. festinus_ 16. _L. c. altamirae_ 17. _L. c. curti_ 18. _L. insularis_ ]

LEPUS CALIFORNICUS DESERTICOLA Mearns.