Oryzomys palustris (Harlan, 1837) . Am. J. Sci., 31:385.

TYPE LOCALITY: USA, New Jersey, Salem Co., "Fastland," near Salem .

DISTRIBUTION: SE USA: SE Kansas to E Texas, eastwards to S New Jersey and peninsular Florida.

STATUS: U.S. ESA - Endangered in the Lower Florida Keys (west of the Seven Mile Bridge) as O. p. natator; IUCN - Indeterminate as O. argentatus in Florida.

SYNONYMS: argentatus, coloratus, natator, oryzivora, planirostris, sanibeli, texensis.

COMMENTS: Formerly included couesi and related forms as subspecies (see account of O. couesi). Geographic variation evaluated by Humphrey and Setzer (1989), who acknowledged the nominate and one other subspecies, O. p. natator. The status of argentatus has oscillated recently: described as a species from the Florida Keys by Spitzer and Lazell (1978); synonymized under O. palustris natator by Humphrey and Setzer (1989); reinstated as species by Goodyear (1991). Here we follow Humphrey and Setzer (1989) based on their broader geographic sampling and more robust analyses. In light of the subspecific endemism displayed among other Florida-Key mammals, the status of argentatus merits further study drawing upon genetic evidence. See Wolfe (1982, Mammalian Species, 176).