Geographic variation, both in color of pelage and in external and cranial dimensions, is less in _R. megalotis_ in the region studied than in most other cricetine species that occur there. Nevertheless, meaningful variation is present. The assumption that variation in _R. megalotis_ paralleled in degree that of other species, _Peromyscus maniculatus_ for example, led to untenable taxonomic conclusions by some previous workers.
Color of pelage is remarkably uniform, considering the geographic extent of the area involved, over most of the northern part of the central grasslands. Perhaps this uniformity results partly from the predilection of the western harvest mouse for grassy habitats, for in most areas on the Great Plains the species is restricted to riparian communities, principally along river systems, where soils, cover, and other conditions approximate those of corresponding habitats farther to the east to a much greater degree than do conditions in upland habitats. Differential selective pressure, therefore, theoretically would be less between eastern and western populations of _R. megalotis_ than in an upland-inhabiting species. In any event, specimens from western Nebraska, Wyoming, northern Colorado, and adjacent areas average only slightly paler dorsally than specimens in corresponding pelages from the eastern parts of Nebraska and Kansas, and many individuals from the two areas can be matched almost exactly.
To the southwest, on the other hand, a trend toward paler (pale brownish, less blackish) upper parts is apparent. Specimens from southwestern Kansas and adjacent parts of Colorado and Oklahoma average slightly paler in comparable pelages than specimens from northeastern Kansas and eastern Nebraska, but most specimens from farther southwest, in northern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado, are discernibly, although not markedly, paler than mice from northern and eastern populations.
A "pectoral spot," fairly common in some populations of _R. megalotis_ east of the Missouri River (see Hoffmeister and Warnock, 1955:162-163), is present in only a small percentage of the specimens we have studied, and when present is usually only faintly developed.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Geographic variation in five measurements of _Reithrodontomys megalotis_ on the central Great Plains. The size of each sample is given, along with total length, length of tail expressed as a percentage of the head and body, length of ear, greatest length of skull, and length of rostrum. The approximate distribution of the species in the region shown and the approximate boundary between the subspecies _R. m. aztecus_ and _R. m. dychei_ also are indicated.]