Mammals from Sado Island, Japan, with Comments on the Status of Apodemus argenteus

Abstract

In carrying out studies on Korean mammals as potential reservoirs of hemorrhagic fever, it has been necessary to take account also of the mammals of the Japanese islands. On August 6 and 7,1954, one of us (Jones), in conjunction with a group of Japanese investigators studying scrub typhus, obtained a small collection of mammals from Sado Island, Japan, and these, in combination with several specimens in the collection of the National Science Museum, Tokyo, Japan, are the basis for the present report. Sado Island lies in the Sea of Japan some twenty-five miles from the coast of Niigata Prefecture, to which it is attached administratively. The island, 330 square miles in area, is broadly S-shaped with two parallel mountain chains on either end and a broad, fertile plain in the center. Mt. Kimpoku (or Kanakita) in the northern chain is the highest point on the island, 3,872 feet. The mountainous parts are, in general, well forested. Rice is the main product of the agricultural areas. Despite the interesting location of Sado Island, little has appeared in the literature concerning its mammalian fauna. Tokuda (Annot. Zool. Japon., 14: 235–241, 1933) reported four species from the island, Mogera wogura …