Vol. XXIV, pp. 101-102 May 15, 1911
PROCEEDINGS
OF Til E
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
NEW NAMES FOR TWO SUBSPECIES OF PEROMYSCUS
MANICULATUS ( WAGNER ) .
BY EDGAR A. MEARNS.
Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., has drawn my attention to the fact
that the names applied by me to two forms of the genus
Peromyscus, defined in 1890, were preoccupied, and are there-
fore not available.
The name Hesperomys leucopus arcticus Mearns ( 1890 )* must be consid-
"
ered as preoccupied by [Hesperomys] arcticus, Sauss." of Coues 1877, t in
accordance with "opinion 4," rendered by the international commission
on zoological nomenclature,* which affirms that "manuscript names acquire
standing in nomenclature when printed in connection with the provisions
of Art. 'S>,§ and the question as to their validity is not influenced by the
fact whether such names are accepted or rejected by the author respon-
sible for their publication." In this case it is evident that the author did
not intend to set up arcticus as the name of a valid form, as, indeed, he
expressly stated that he considered it to show not the slightest departure
from the ordinary form of leucopus. The name arcticus can not be
regarded as a noma/ nudum, as Coues gave a complete history, with no
less than eight measurements of specimen No.
u
:i 24. Moreover, as the
animal from Labrador to which Coues attached the name arcticus, in
1877, is a synonym of Hesperomys maniculaius Wagner, 1845, the name
arcticus disappears from nomenclature and can not be used for the dif-||
ferent form from Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, Canada, which I described,
in 1890, under the name Hesperomys leucopus arcticus ; for the latter I
now propose the name borealis.
•Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. V. II, 1890. p. 285.
tMonogr. N. Am. Rodentia, 1877, p. 67 (in text) and p. 61 (where the name is mis-
printed articus), table xi, line l (.Labrador).
t Opinions rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
Opinions 1 to 25, publication No. 1938 of the Smithsonian Institution, July, 1910.
§ International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 1905, p. 23.
II" [Hesperomys] bairdii Sauss.", which Coues mentions in the same connection,
also from Labrador, has the same status as arcticus; it being a young specimen of
Wagner's maniculatus (Not Mus bairdii Hoy and Kennicott, 1856)
21—Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (101)
102 Mearns—Names for Subspecies of Peromyscus maniculatus.
Baird's Hesperomys sonoriensis nebrascensis* is a nomen nudum, though
it is evident from a comparison of the text and synonymy on pages 4(32 and
474 of his Mammals of North America that he at first intended to describe
this race as a form of sonoriensis, but that, later, he changed his opinion
respecting its validity or possibly omitted it through oversight but Coues;
repeated the namef, and referred to specimens from Deer Creek, Nebraska,
giving measurements and a critical remark on coloration. The name will
therefore have to date from Coues. This Nebraskan form was redescribed
by Osgood as Peromyscus luteus.i
The Hesperomys leucopus nebrascensis Mearns §, from Calf Creek,
Custer County, Montana, is subspecifically distinct from Hesperomys sono-
riensisv&r. nebrascensis Coues. from Deer Creek, Nebraska, and as it must
receive a new name, I propose osgoodi as a subspecific appellation.
The synonymy of the three forms involved stands as follows:
Peromyscus maniculatus borealis, new name.
ARCTIC DEER MOUSE.
Hesperomys leucopus arcticus Mearns, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. N. Y.,
II, 1890, p. 285 (not of Coues). Fort Simpson, Hudson's Bay Ter-
ritory, September 7th, R. Kennicott.
Peromysriix maniculatus arcticus Osgood, N. Am. Fauna, No. 10, 1000,
p. 33.
Peromyscus maniculatus nebrascensis (Coues).
NEBRASKA DEER MOUSE.
ILsperomys sonoriensis var. nebrascensis Baird, Mamni. N. Am., 1857,
p. 402 (noun, i a win in).
Hesperomys sonoricnsisxav. nebrascensis ( !oues, Monogr. N. Am. Rodentia,
1877, p. 70, synonymy under Hesperomys leucopus sonoriensis, p. 28
(critical remark on coloration ), p. 80 ( mentions specimens from Deer
Creek, Nebraska).
Peromyscus nebrascensis of authors (not of Mearns).
Peromyscus 1 ulcus Osgood, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XVIII, 1005,
p. 78 (Kennedy, Nebraska i.
Peromyscus maniculatus luteus Osgood, N. Am. Fauna, No. 28, 1909,
p. 77.
Peromyscus maniculatus osgoodi, new name.
BLACK-EARED DEER MOUSE.
Hesperomys leucopus nebrascensis Mearns, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
N. Y. 1800, p. 285 (not Hesperomys sonoriensis var. nebrascensis
Coues, 1877). Calf Creek, Custer County, Montana.
Peromyscus texanus nebrascensis Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Mist., N. Y.,
VIII, 180(5, p. 251 (part).
Peromyscus maniculatus nebrascensis Osgood, N. Am. Fauna, No. 28,
L909, p. 75 (based on Mearns).
* Maimn. N. Am.. ls.",7 . p. 462.
I Monogr. X. Am. Rodentia. 1*77, pp. 28, 7;i and so.
I Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington. 1905, p. 7s (Kennedy, Nebraska).
§ Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. Y., 1890, p. 285.