Sigmodon (Sigmodon) mascotensis J. A. Allen 1897

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1176

Sigmodon (Sigmodon) mascotensis J. A. Allen 1897

Sigmodon (Sigmodon) mascotensis J. A. Allen 1897 , Bull. Am. Mus . Nat. Hist., 9: 54.

Type Locality: México, Jalisco State, Mascota, Mineral San Sebastián, 3300 ft (1006 m).

Vernacular Names: West Mexican Cotton Rat.

Synonyms: Sigmodon (Sigmodon) atratus Hall 1949 ; Sigmodon (Sigmodon) colimae J. A. Allen 1897 ; Sigmodon (Sigmodon) inexoratus Elliot 1903 ; Sigmodon (Sigmodon) ischyrus Goodwin 1956 ; Sigmodon (Sigmodon) obvelatus Russell 1952 ; Sigmodon (Sigmodon) tonalensis Bailey 1902 .

Distribution: W México, from S Nayarit and SW Zacatecas southwards to extreme SW Chiapas; along interior arid basins as far east as W Hidalgo, W Puebla, and NW Oaxaca (see Carleton et al., 1999:Fig. 16).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Sigmodon , S. hispidus species group. Zimmerman (1970) removed from mascotensis from S. hispidus and reinstated it as species, a change supported by Severinghaus and Hoffmeister (1978) and Elder and Lee (1985). Revised by Carleton et al. (1999), who elaborated upon its morphological separation from S. arizonae (see above account) and S. hispidus and identified other junior synonyms mistakingly allocated to S. hispidus ; see those authors for remarks on broad patterns of intraspecific variation, which do not concord with conventional subspecies boundaries (e.g., Hall, 1981).