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REVISION OF THE JUMPING MICE OF THE GENUS ZAPUS

1899; Volume: 15; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3996/nafa.15.0001

1944-4575

Edward Alexander Preble,

Botanical Research and Chemistry

History and material.The Jumping Mice of North America early attracted the attention of naturalists, but their true status and rela- tionships long remained in obscurity.The first reference to any of the species seems to have been made by Thomas Pennant, in the latter part of the last century, who mentioned the animal under the name of the 1 Long-legged Mouse of Hudson's Bay.' In 1780 Zimmermaun, basiug his description on that of Pennant, and supposing the animal to be con- generic with the jerboas of the Old World, named it Dipus hudsonius.Subsequent authors, recognizing the inapplicability of Dipus, referred the species successively to Gerbillus, Meriones, and Jaculm, until finally Dr. Elliott Coues, in 1875, after showing that all the generic names previously used were untenable, proposed Zapus.Previous to 1857 a number of specific names were used for members of this genus (see pp. 10-13), but were applied mainly to specimens from the eastern United States and Canada.Suffice it to say that Baird, in 1857, and Coues, in 1877, recognized but one species, having a range nearly coincident with the present geographic distribution of the genus in North America.This resulted mainly from two causes poor qual- ity of existing material and the prevailing tendency of the times to lump distinct species having a superficial resemblance to one another.The material consisted mainly of poorly preserved alcoholic speci- mens, or skins badly made (in most cases with the skulls inside), and without satisfactory measurements.The characters distinguishing the species, therefore, were not apparent or were considered as being due merely to individual variation.In failing to examine skulls, both Baird and Coues referred specimens of the animal since described as 5 6 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA.Zapus insignia to Z. hudsonius, though insignia has a different number of teeth and is now considered subgeuerically distinct from the latter.Under the improved methods of collecting and preserving mammals now in vogue large series of well-prepared specimens have been brought together during the past few years, and several new forms have been described, mainly from the west and northwest.The following revision of the genus Zapus is based on a study of more than 900 specimens, mainly in the collections of the Biological Survey of the U. IS.Department of Agriculture, the U. S. National Museum, and several private individuals.