MAMMALS OF THE TRES MARIAS ISLANDS.

Transcription

1 MAMMALS OF THE TRES MARIAS ISLANDS. By E. W. NELSON. Mammals are not numerous either in species or individuals upon the Tres Marias. So far as known, they number but eleven species, of which seven are peculiar to the islands; one is introduced, and the other three are widely ranging bats. A sea lion and two species of porpoise were found near the shores, and whales were reported to occur during certain seasons. As with the birds, one of the most unaccountable features of the mammal fauna is the absence of a number of species that are common on the aldjacent mainland. Considering the primitive condition of the islauds, it is difficult to explain the presence of field mice, the pigmy opossum, rabbit, and raccoon, while the large gray opwsum, nasua, skunk, fox, coyote, deer, peccary, squirrel, and various small rodents of the adjacent mainland remain unrepresented. The Tres Marias mouse was rather common above 200 feet on all of the larger islands; the rabbit was very numerous near the north end of Maria Madre, on San Juanito, and in some places on Maria Magdalena, and two species of bats were abundant in caves on Maria Madre. Aside from these species, mammals were uncommon and difficult to find. One cause of their general scarcity may be the very limited supply of permanent fresh water, and the absence of small species from a broad belt near the shore was easily accounted for by the abundance of carnivorous crabs.. The mammals obtained by our party have been identified by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, who has described the new forms and given critical notes on other,cpecies.l Of the land mammals taken, five were new and two, Lepus graysoni and RhogeZssa parvula, had been previously described. We failed to secure two species of bats (Hyotis rzigricanns and Lasiurus borealis mexicanus) which were taken by Mr. Forrer. Notwithstanding the fact that collections were made in several branches of natural hisfory, I feel confident that representatives of all the resident land mammals were secured, but it is quite possible that future work may add other bats to the present list. ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES. Marmosa insularis Merriam. Tres Msrias Pigmy Opossum. Narmosa insulu~is Merriam. Proc. Biol. Soc., Washington, XII, pp , Jan. 27, Type from Maria Madre Island. These pretty little opossums were not found except in the high inte. rior of Maria Madre, between 1,200 and 1,800 feet above sea level, where 1 Proc. Biol. SOC. Waahington, XII, pp ,

2 16 NORTH AMERICA* FAUNA. they were apparently rather common about the wild fig trees in the forest and were feeding upon the figs. They may occur also on the other islands, especially upon Maria Magdalena. Two men living on the island described the nests of these animals as globular masses of dry leaves and small plant stems, lined with shreds of softer vegetable matter. The nests are built in the forks of bushes, from 3 to 8 feet from the ground, and have the entrance on the lower side. One of the men found a nest situated as described and about 3 feet from the ground. He saw the owner peering out of a hole near the lower side, but as he approached the head vanished, and the entrance was suddenlyclosed by the opossum drawing some of the nest material across it. The nest was quickly thrust into a, game bag, and when examined was found to contain a female opossum and a number of young clinging to her fur with their feet and tails twined closely about hers. The weight of the young was so great that the parent could only walk very slowly. Oryzomys iielsoni Merria8m. Nelson's Rice Rat. Oryzomys nelsoni Merriam. Proc. Biol. SOC. Washington, XII, p. 15, Jan. 27, Type from Maria Madre Island. This rice rat is probably a rare species, as only a few specimens were *cured after much trapping. They were found only in damp places near springs about the summit of Maria Madre, about 1,800 feet above sea level. This seemed the most suitable location for them on account of the juicy herbaceous vegetation mingled with the undergrowth. Peromyscus madreiisis Merriam. Tres Marias Mouse. Peromyscus madrenais Merriam. Proc. Biol. SOC. Waahington, XII, p. 16, Jan. 27, Type from Maria Madre Island. This is the mostly widely distributed and probably the most numerous rodent. Specimens were taken on the three large islands, but its occurrence on San Juanito, where land crabs are very numerous, is doubtful. They were generally distributed over the forest-grown slopes bordering the shore, above the belt infested by crabs. On Maria Madre they were most common about the wild fig trees near the summit (1,500 to 1,800 feet), where the pigmy opossums were secured. Here their burrows entered the ground under logs or projecting roots, but elsewhere these mice were found living beneath rocks and small ledges. They are apparently restricted to the forest, and while nowhere so abundant as were the rabbits in one place near the north end of Maria Madre, yet they were much more generally distributed. Mus rattus Linn. Black Rat. These rats were found in small numbers about the houses and distributed over the forested parts of Maria Madre and, as on the mainland of western Mexico, we found only the gray form. Lepus graysoni Allen. Tres Marias Cottontail. Lepus graysoni Allen, Mon. N. Am. Rodentia, pp , Type from Tres Marias Islands (undoubtedly from Maria Madre). The cottontail is abundant in some places on San Juanito, Maria Madre and Maria Magdalena, and was reported to occur on Maria

3 MAMMALS OF THE TRES MARIAS ISLBNDS. 17 Cleofa. They were very numerous about a deserted ranch on the north side of Maria Magdalona, but were rather scarce elsewhere on that island. We found them extraordinarily abundant and surprisingly tame abput old fields on an abandoned ranch at the northern end of Maria Madre. Some were killed with stones neax camp, and it would have been easy to kill over a hundred in a morning. They would sit in their forms among the hushes while one peered at them from a, distance of a, few feet, and when driven out into ail open space they often sat quietly while the camera was brought up and focussed within a short distance. The old fields at this ranch had been long abandoned and were covered with a scattered growth of bushes, which seemed more suitable for the rabbits than the forested areas, where they occurred much more sparingly. The cottontails frequented the wood roads leading from the shore up over the forested slopes, and after 3 07clock in the afternoon could be found sittling quietly in little open places in the undergrowth waiting for the nearer approach of sunset before coming out into the roads. The skin of these rabbits was surprisingly delicate, and it was difficult to skin them without tearing it in many places. It was found almost impossible to carry a specimen by the hind legs even a short distance without having the skin tear and slip where it had been grasped by the hand. It is strange that the rabbits are not more abundant on the islands, considering the fact that the raccoon is the only predatory mammal, and that the few red-tailed hawks and caracaras are the only birds that prey upon them. Procyon lotor insularis Merriam. Tres Marias Raccoon. Procyon lotor insularis Merriom. Proc. Biol. SOC. Washington, XII, p. 17, January 27, The raccoon was rather common on Maria Madre and Maria Magdalena, but no signs of them mere seen on Maria Cleofa, where, however, they may occur. In May they were feeding on wild figs and other fruits and on the crabs, which were very abundant near the shore. Every morning freshly made raccoon tracks were seen in trails leading from the seashore to higher parts of the islands, but the animals usually passed our traps without paying the slightest attention to the bait. They were semi-diurnal in habits and several mere seen in the woods in broad daylight. One afternoon one was seen crossing the bed of a dry wash near the northern end of Maria Madre, and instead of trying to escape through the woods it climbed a wild-fig tree on the bank and stood looking down from a horizontal branch until shot. Zalophus californianus (Lesson). Sea Lion. A large seal or sea lion, called 6 lob0 marino or sea wolf by the Mexicans, was reported to occur at several places on the rocky shores of Maria Magdalena' and Maria Cleofa. We first heard of them before No. 16-2

4 18 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. leaving San Blas and again upon reaching the islands. It was evident that the sea lions had been hunted for sport by previous visitors until they had become comparatively scarce and are now in a fair way to become extinct. After learning the location of the most frequented places on both islands, we visited them under the guidance of a tortoiseshell hunter who was very familiar with the shore, hut we saw only a single sea lion. It was on a rocky islet ofjt the shore of Maria Cleofa, and took to the water and disappeared before we could get.a shot. Our guide said that sometimes the sea lions leave the islands for a few days, and this may account for the failure to find them about their usual haunts. The consensus of opinion among the residents of Maria Madre was that these auimals are now very scarce. Formerly they were found in many places; but at. present a rocky point on the northwest side and a juttingreef on the south side of Maria Magdalena and some islets west of Maria Cleofa are the only landing places used. It is possible that the Guadalupe Island fur seal (Arctocephalus tozonsendi Merriam) may also occur at times about the islands. Rhogeessa parvula H. Allen. Tres Marias RhogeEssa. Rhogebsa paraula H. Allen. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1866, p Type from the Tres Marias. These little bats were rather common on Maria Madre, where they live in the forest and fly at dusk along the trails and about small open places. At times they appear in such situations in broad day. Two were killed while flying up and down a trail in the brilliant sunshine in the middle of the forenoon, and I saw one hawking for insects among the tree tops along a trail two hours before sunset. As a rule, however, they only come out when it is too dark for one to see more than an indistinct form as they flit about among the trees. A few were also seen on Maria Magdalena. Myotis nigricans (Maximilian). Maximilim s Black Bat. According to Mr. Oldfield Thomas, a specimen of this bat was taken on the Tres Mariss by Mr. F0rrer.I We took none, and they probably occur on the island only as stragglers. Otopterus mexicanus (Saussure). Big-eared Bat. A colony of over a hundred big-eared bats was living in an old warehouse at the settlement on Maris Madre, and others were found in several caves situated in various parts of the island. The warehouse where these bats were found had a large open window and wide cracks, so that it was quite light inside, yet they were found hanging from the ceiling and roof, in plain view, ahd evidently had lived there a long time. The specimens were mostly females heavy with young. Glossophaga mutica Merriam. Tres Marias Glossophaga. G2oasop1iaga mutica Morriam. Proc. Biol. SOC. Washington, XII, pp , January 27, Type from Maria Madre Island. This was by far the most numerous bat on Maria Madre, where it was found in every cave suaciently deep to be dark. One cave was among ~ _ Biologia Centrali-Americana, Mammalia, 206, 1881 (under Vespertilio nigtrcans,,

5 MAMMALS OF THE TRES MARIA8 ISLANDS. 19 some huge projecting rocks lying at the water's edge, near the settlement. Many of the females collected contained large embryos. These bats were feeding on the fruit of the wild fig. As surmised by Dr. Merriam,l the record of Chmoltycteris mexicana from these islands, given by Mr. Thomas in the Biologia, proves to be referable to the present species. In reply to a letter of inquiry, Mr. Thomas states that he discovered the mistake in identification too late to correct it in the Biologia, and agrees with Dr. Merriam in referring his specimen to G. mutica. Lasiurus borealis mexicanus (Saussiire). Mexican Red Bat. Forrer added this species to the fauna of the Tres Marbs as recorded by Mr. Thomas.2 We did not see any red bats, and I doubt their being found on the islands except as stragglers from the mainland. Bats are such wide-ranging animals it is to be expected that sever's1 additional species will eventually be found to occur on the islands.? Phocaena communis (Lesson). Common Porpoise. Porpoises supposed to belong to this species were common around the shores of the Tres Marias and also in bays and mouths of streams or lagoons along the coast of the mainland. They were always seen in the belt of shallow discolored water within a short distance of the shore. As soon as blue water, with a depth of over 40 fathoms, was reached, the other porpoise (Prodelphinus Iongirostris) was encountered. The common porpoise was seen in schools of 10 to 30 or 40 individuals swimming in loose order. At Maria Madre they cam0 into the shallow bay in front of the settlement in the early morning arid followed close along shore. Prodelphinus longirostris (Gray). Long-nosed Porpoise. In the blue water between the mainiand and the islands these porpoises were very abundant in schools of from 100 to 200 individuals. They are much slenderer and more graceful animals than the preceding species. While swimming about their feeding places at sea they were accompanied by swarms of terns, gannets, and shearwaters. On one occasion, while crossing to the islands, a school of about 200 porpoises came directly toward us and passed under and on all sides of the boat. While they were passing, the water was broken into foam on every hand by their glistening black bodies, and overhead swarmed a, shrieking crowd of sea birds. Mr. Goldman made a fortunate rifle shot and killed two of them, but one sank before it could be harpooned. 1 Proc. Biol. Soo. Washington, XII, pp , footnote, January, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Mamm., p. 205, footnote.