Peromyscus mexicanus (Saussure, 1860)

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 734

Peromyscus mexicanus (Saussure, 1860) . Rev. Mag. Zool. Paris, Ser. 2, 12: 103.

TYPE LOCALITY: Mexico, Veracruz, 10 km E Mirador (restricted by Dalquest, 1950:8) .

DISTRIBUTION: In Mexico—along the Atlantic coast from S San Luis Potosi to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and along the Pacific coast, from the Guerrero-Oaxaca border to C Chiapas; upper foothills and middle-elevation mountains in Guatemala, through El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, to upper highlands in Costa Rica and W Panama (Chiriqui region).

SYNONYMS: angelensis, azulensis, cacabatus , coatlanensis, Hesperus, nicaraguae , nudipes , orientalis , orizabae , philombrius, salvadorensis, sloeops, teapensis , tehuantepecus , totontepecus, tropicalis .

COMMENTS: Geographic range, variation, and taxonomic synonymy summarized by Huckaby (1980). Includes forms formerly viewed as members of Osgoodomys banderanus (angelensis, coatlanensis, and sloeops—see Musser, 1969«), P. guatemalensis ( tropicalis — see Musser, 1969«), and P. megalops (azulensis— see Huckaby, 1980). Although these taxa were erroneously associated by their original describers, the conspecific status of populations now arranged under P. mexicanus direly needs investigation. In particular, southern populations identified as nudipes , arranged as a synonym by Huckaby (1980) and Carleton (1989), have been considered a distinct species ( Osgood, 1909; Hooper, 1968b) and deserve additional scrutiny. Euchromatic banding patterns identical in P. mexicanus and related species so far examined ( Smith et al., 1986). See account of P. gymnotis , which had been arranged as a race of P. mexicanus . P. mexicanus species group.