University of Kansas Publications
Museum of Natural History
Volume 14, No. 6, pp. 99-110, 1 fig.
December 29, 1961
Natural History of the Brush Mouse
(Peromyscus boylii) in Kansas
With Description of a New Subspecies
BY
CHARLES A. LONG
University of Kansas
Lawrence
1961
University of Kansas Publications,Museum of Natural History
Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch,
Theodore H. Eaton, Jr.
Volume 14, No. 6, pp. 99-110, 1 fig.
Published December 29, 1961
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
PRINTED BY
JEAN M. NEIBARGER, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1961
28-8518
Natural History of the Brush Mouse
(Peromyscus boylii) in Kansas
With Description of a New Subspecies
BY
CHARLES A. LONG
In order to determine the geographic distribution of the brushmouse in the state, 15 localities, chosen on the basis of suitablehabitat, were investigated by means of snap-trapping in the winterand spring of 1959, spring of 1960, and winter and spring of 1961.Variation in specimens obtained by me and in other specimens inthe Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas, wasanalyzed. Captive mice from Cherokee County, Kansas, wereobserved almost daily from March 27, 1960, to June 1, 1961. Captivemice from Chautauqua and Cowley counties were studiedbriefly. Contents of 38 stomachs of brush mice were analyzed, anddiet-preferences of the captive mice were studied. Data fromlive-trapping and from snap-trapping are combined and providesome knowledge of size and fluctuation of populations in the species.
Examination of the accumulated specimens and the captive micereveals the occurrence in southern Kansas of an unnamed subspecies,which may be named and described as follows:
Type.—Male, adult, skin and skull; No. 81830, K. U.; from 4 mi. E Sedan,Chautauqua County, Kansas; obtained on December 30, 1959, by C. A. Long,original No. 456.
Range.—Known from 3 mi. W Cedar Vale, in Cowley County, Kansas, andfrom the type locality.
Diagnosis.—Size medium (see Table 1 beyond); underparts white; upperparts Ochraceous-Tawny laterally, becoming intermixed with black and approachingMummy Brown dorsally (capitalized color terms after Ridgway,1912); eye nonprotuberant; tail short but well-haired distally and usually lessthan half total length; nasals long; cranium large.
Comparisons.—From P. b. attwateri, the subspecies geographicallynearest cansensis, the latter can be easily distinguished bythe less protuberant eyes and relatively shorter tail (91 per centof length of head and body; in topotypes of P. b. attwateri fromKerr County, Texas, 104 per cent; in specimens of P. b. attwaterifrom Cherokee County, Kansas, 103 per cent). P. b. cansensis isdarker than P. b. attwateri and darker than P. b. rowleyi, the palest[Pg 102]subspecies of brush mouse, which occurs to the westward. Theskull and nasals (see Table 1) in adults of P. b. attwateri fromCherokee County average shorter than in cansensis.
Specimens examined.—Tot