Neotoma (Neotoma) magister Baird 1857

Neotoma (Neotoma) magister Baird 1857, Mammalia, in: Repts. U. S. Expl. Surv., Vol. 8: 498.

Type Locality: USA, Pennsylvania, cave near Carlisle (Cumberland Co.) and Harrisburg (Dauphin Co.).

Vernacular Names: Allegheny Woodrat.

Synonyms: Neotoma (Neotoma) pennsylvanica Stone 1893 .

Distribution: Allegheny Mountains, E USA, along a southwesterly tract from extreme SE New York and NW New Jersey to N Alabama and NW Georgia; isolated pockets in S Indiana and S Ohio.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Subgenus Neotoma, floridana species group ( sensu Edwards and Bradley, 2002 b). Originally described as a species, retained as such by Goldman (1910), later placed as a subspecies of N. floridana by Burt and Barkalow (1942). Birney (1976), however, noted that magister may prove distinct from N. floridana, an assessment borne out by subsequent morphological and genetic studies (Edwards and Bradley, 2001; Hayes and Harrison, 1992; Hayes and Richmond, 1993; Planz et al., 1996). Historical biogeography and timing of divergence from N. floridana postulated by Hayes and Harrison (1992) and Edwards and Bradley (2001).