Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico. 9, Herpetology of the Tres Marías Islands. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 119, article 2
Supplemental Materials
Date
1960
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Publisher
New York : [American Museum of Natural History]
DOI
DOI
Abstract
"The Tres Marías are a group of four islands located 59 to 70 miles off the Pacific coast of Mexico, opposite the State of Nayarit. The herpetofauna includes two species of anurans, one turtle, a crocodile, five lizards, and 11 snakes. A sea snake and at least two sea turtles occur in the waters about the islands. Little evolutionary divergence from mainland stocks has taken place, with only one endemic subspecies of snake and one endemic subspecies of lizard present. The status of an apparently endemic genus of snakes described from the islands cannot be evaluated, because the only known specimen has been lost. Geographic relationships of the reptiles on the islands are predominantly southern; all species but one range to the south of the islands, and several reach Central and South America. With the exception of a single northern lizard, the reptiles and amphibians are thought to have reached the islands by way of a land connection now submerged. The exception is Urosaurus ornatus, which may have rafted to the islands. The population of this species on the Tres Marías is isolated more than 200 miles south of the main range of the species. Review of the taxonomic status of several supposedly endemic subspecies of snakes reveals the need for synonymizing three names proposed for insular populations. These are listed below, with the current nomenclature on the left and the suggested names on the right: Boa constrictor sigma (Smith) = Boa constrictor imperator Daudin; Masticophis flagellum variolosus Smith = Masticophis lineatus Bocourt; Drymarchon corais cleofae Brock = Drymarchon corais rubidus Smith. In addition, a previous decision by Oliver to synonymize another snake (Leptophis diplotropis forreri Smith = L. diplotropis Günther) is followed. This study is based largely on collections made on the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico in the spring of 1957. Three species collected at that time are additions to the insular fauna, including the first reported anurans (Syrrhophus modestus pallidus and Bufo mazatlanensis) and a snake (Tantilla calamarina)"--P. 125.
Description
p. 81-128, [4] p. of plates : ill., maps ; 27 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-128).
Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-128).
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