) wrote that in "This well marked species ... the
lack of a black patch on the posterior half of the ear at the tip and
the white flanks (somewhat obscured in some of the original specimens)
are strong characters which place it in the _callotis_ group."
"Posterior half of ears white without any trace of black at tip", was
the way Nelson (_op. cit._:124) described the ears in _L. altamirae_. My
examination of the original series including the type, reveals that the
ears do have some black at the tip of the posterior half in three of the
specimens, some brown in one other specimen, and only a dusky tinge in
two others. In the four specimens of _L. c. curti_ the tip of the ear is
faintly brownish in one animal and dusky in three. The extent of the
white flanks seems to be identical in the two series. Fortunately they
are in the same pelage and same stage of molt on the hind legs. The one
difference that I can detect is in the coloration of the nape. In each
of the specimens of _L. altamirae_ the coloration is as described by
Nelson (_op. cit._:124): "nape with two lateral black bands extending
back from base of ears, and separated by a median band of buffy." In _L.
c. curti_ the nape is all black in one specimen and the median band of
buffy is present in the other three but is narrower and more dusky than
in _L. altamirae_. Since the characters (color of tip of ear and extent
of white on the flank) relied upon by Nelson for placing _L. altamirae_
in the _callotis_ group are duplicated in the _californicus_ group, in
_L. c. curti_, there is reason for questioning whether _altamirae_ is
correctly placed, taxonomically, in the _L. callotis_ group.

Cursory examination of skulls of the _callotis_ group and the
_californicus_ group indicates that the prepalatal spine (the part of
the palate which extends anteriorly toward the vomer) is longer in _L.
californicus_ than in _L. callotis_, _L. gaillardi_ and _L. alleni_. In
this feature, _L. altamirae_ agrees with _Lepus californicus_ and
differs from members of the _Lepus callotis_ group. Furthermore, the
newly named _L. c. curti_, in color of ear and color of nape, is
intermediate between _L. altamirae_ and _L. c. merriami_. Consequently,
_Lepus merriami altamirae_ Nelson, it seems, should stand as _Lepus
californicus altamirae_.

Mention should be made here of the view of Shamel (Proc. Biol. Soc.
Washington, 55:25-26, May 12, 1942) that the _californicus_ group should
be divide