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iVlUS. COM p. ZO^-'L. LIBRARY S-KJfl-S JUN 2 1 10RR HAKVmimJ UNIVERSITY TRANSACTIONS OF THE SAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 14, No. 11, pp. 137-156 BIOGEOGRAPHY AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS ON ISLANDS IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA, MEXICO BY MICHAEL SOULE Stanford University, Stanford, California (Present address: University of Malawi, Limbe, Malawi) AND ALLAN J. SLOAN Assistant Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians San Die°o Natural History Museum SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Printed for the Society June 10, 1966 J. EL MUERTO 2. ENCANTADA GRANDE 3. MEJIA 4. ANGEL DE LA GUARDA 5. SMITH 6. TIBURON 7. PARTIDA NORTE 8. RAZA 9. SALSIPUEDES 10. SAN LORENZO II. SAN LORENZO SAN ESTEBAN -j 12. SAN I 3. PEDRO Ma'rTIR 14- SAN PEDRO NOLASCO 5. TORTUGA 16, SAN MARCOS in this Fig. 1. Islands in the Gulf of California referred to report. JUN 2 1 1966 C, . ^ Z HARVARD UNIVERSITY BIOGEOGRAPHY AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS ON ISLANDS IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA, MEXICO BY MICHAEL SOULE and ALLAN J. SLOAN Introduction The first comprehensive analysis of the herpetofauna of the islands in the Gulf of Cali- fornia was that by Schmidt (1922); in his report of the results of the 1911 "Albatross" expedition, 54 records of island reptiles are given. In 1921 most of the islands were visited by the California Academy of Sciences' "Silvergate" expedition under the leadership of Joseph Slevin. Van Denburgh's (1922) tabulation of 127 records from the Gulf islands includes the material collected by the "Silvergate" personnel. CliflF (1954a) studied the Gulf island herpeto- fauna and published on the snakes (1954b). At that time the total known reptile fauna amounted to some 200 insular populations. Since then about 50 new records have accumulated. Responsible for the acquisition of much of this new material was the Belvedere expedition to the Gulf in the spring of 1962. Lindsay (1962) provided an account of the Belvedere expedi- tion in which he mentioned many of the new records which are formally presented here. Many persons and institutions have made important contributions to this project. Charles E. Shaw, of the Zoological Society of San Diego, and the senior author were responsible for the collection of reptiles obtained on the Belvedere expedition, although all the biologists contributed. Permits to collect reptiles in the Republic of Mexico were granted by the late Luis Macias Arellano, and Rodolfo Hernandez Corzo, Direccion General de Caza, Departamento de Conservacion de la Fauna Silvestre. Field work has been supported by grants from the Belvedere Scientific Fund and the National Science Foundation (G-14426, GB-2317), and donations from Richard M. Adcock, —Richard F. Dwyer, and Roy E. Marquardt. Basis for Taxonomtc Decisions. Many of the Gulf populations are known by two or more names. The majority of these taxonomic uncertainties stem from differences of opinion as to whether a population deserves specific or subspecific recognition. Where decisions as to insular specific or subspecific rank of populations have been necessary, we have in general fol- lowed the suggestion ot Mayr (1942:121): "If we examine the 'good' species of a certain locality we find that the reproductive gap is associated with a certain degree of morphological If of difference. we find a new group individuals at a different locality, we use the scale of diflferences between the species of the familiar area to help us in determining whether the new form is a different species or not. These scales of differences are empirically reached and differ in every family and genus." — Comments on Distribution Table. The distribution of reptiles and amphibians on islands in the Gulf of California is shown in table 1. The table includes 15 new records reported in this paper (see below). The islands are arranged approximately from north (left side of table) to south. Several very small islands close to the mainland on either side of the Gulf, as those in Bahias de los Angeles, Concepcion, and Kino, and near Mazatlan, are not listed. Several very small satellite islands from which only one or two lizards are known are also omitted. References for the table are: Banks and Farmer, 1963; Banta and Leviton, 1963; Cliff, 1954a, 1954b, 1958; Crippen, 1962; Dickerson, 1919; Dixon, 1964; Etheridge, 1961; Figg-Hoblyn and Banta, 1957; Klauber, 1956, 1963; Lowe and Norris, 1955; Savage and Cliff, 1954; Schmidt, 1922; Shaw, 1945; Smith and Taylor, 1945, 1950; Soule, 1961 and in preparation; Van Den- 1955. burgh, 1922; Zweifel and Norris, The location of the islands is shown in figure 1. New Records of Snakes This section contains data on a number of snakes which appear to represent new Gulf island records. Except as noted, the specimens referred to are in the collection of the San Diego Society of Natural History (SDSNH). 140 San Diego Society of Natural History [Vol. 14 OAJBiia^ J U CS c -^ O •0 ^ o B IS u U G •-t-i -rt O C 3 'C 4) .S CO -13 C -T3 C < .2 n 15 <u __ C 6 c rt rt -T3 .^ S 2 _ o 3 Q 1966} SouLE AND Sloan: Herpetofauna of Gulf Islands 141 u u u u 142 San Diego Society of Natural History [Vol. 14 OA1BJJ33 £9[ isL Z U (/) u u — Ku^ipg ^•> 69 BpiwBd-oauBS niuidsg 55 9^6 9 w u 03SIDUEJJ uBg 9-3 013 Z u 3sof UBS t'61 ff9 L u u SBlUIUy SB^ oSaiQ uBg ozz zru3 BauBg 9'n bui|bjb;]) BauBg 8JEJJaSUOJ/\J t'"6I £33 U u ajuBzuBQ 6> 901 U u u u SOPEUOJ03 ^8 £83 u OSUOppiI UEg 9-3 ^n (jng) sauj BjuES ^- > 6 SOJJBI^ UBS ^"I^ \Ll u u u u BSniJOj^ £-9 60 f ODSB|0|^ ojpaj UBS Zi 93f JUJBi^ ojpad UBS 8' I 03f 3 .2 uB(ja:sg ues ^'^ U c Uo jns ozusjo'^j UBS ^^^ 3»0N OZU3J01 UBS S'8 003 U sapandisps 8"1 t'll U BZBy I'l [f < ajaof^ EpijjBd 1-3 331 Qi "o-inqij. 31 31 81 31 31 u u u ijjiuis ^9t' upjEHQ B[ ap jaSuy 3 £9 91£I a: u u Biraj^ ^•£ 393 u apUBjr) BpBJUBDUg £33 oajanj^ |g 60 361 in 2 3 3 o .2 c w bo bo -CJ T3 "3 T3 s 2 ~C ~C -J5 V Vj U fj bo c c c c ?s ^ ?s ra bo -c ~c -c V bo bo ,bo ^^ bo 3 bo "3 .5 -^ ~c * -c -c bo bo 2 >>> <J (J 3 O o o o o 000 o "-^ ST tj Q >- ? != o o ci. o o S S g 5 s s A. X c Q. «». -a. ^ ^ ?N 5 a C :^ :^ '^ CO O >o o J O O uj a: i: 1: ^ ^ 1966] SouLE AND Sloan: Herpetofauna of Gulf Islands 143 u u 144 San Diego Society of Natural History [Vol. 14 Leptotyphlops humilis slevini Klauber. The single blind snake collected during the Belevedere expedition constitutes an addition to the herpetofauna of Isla Carmen. A female (SDSNH 44386) was found near Bahia Marquer by Charles E. Shaw and George E. Lind- total is 221 the tail 8 There are 14 scale say, April 4, 1962. The length mm., length, mm. 12 rows at midbody, 14 subcaudals, 240 scales between the rostral and tail spine, and scale rows around the tail. The first four median dorsal scales are nearly equal in size. The seven dorsal scale rows are medium brown. This specimen is assigned to the subspecies slev-.ni until additional specimens are available to determine the variation in this island population. Most characters are within the range of variation ascribed to this subspecies by Klauber (1940a: 133). The number of dorsal scales is lower, and is very close to the mean number for dugesi. This specimen is darker than typical slevini, although not nearly as dark as coastal himiilis. The only previous report of worm snakes on Gulf islands is that by Banks and Farmer (1963) for Isla Cerralvo. collected Lichanura trivirgata gracia Klauber. An adult female (SDSNH 51999) was by Howard E. Everette at Puerto Refugio, on the north end of Isla Angel de la Guarda, March 19, 1963. It was found about two hours after sundown. 235 This specimen has a total length of 724 mm., and a tail length of 90 mm. There are ventrals, 49 subcaudals, and 41 scale rows at midbody. The three longitudinal stripes are orange-brown, and adhere closely to the edges of the limiting scales. Unlike typical specimens of this subspecies, which have drab ground color, the dorsal ground color is light to medium gray, and the stripes tend to be outlined in black. This black outline is particularly prominent the of is of a concentration of minute black on lower edge each lateral stripe, and composed spots on the inner edges of adjacent scales. This specimen is similar in coloration to one from six miles south of Socorro, in northern Baja California (considered a possible intergrade by Klauber, 1931a:312), and to recently collected material from the peninsula opposite the island. The ovary of this snake contains eggs of three distinct size classes. Five eggs average X X 1 in 6.8 7.2 mm., six average 2.5 3.2 mm., and eight others are less than mm. greatest diameter. The desert rosy boa was expected to occur on Isla Angel de la Guarda since a dried example was collected on nearby Isla Mejia by Joseph R. Slevin in 1921 (Van Denburgh, 1922:633).
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  • Check-List of North American Batrachia

    Check-List of North American Batrachia

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  • (Crotalus Oreganus Helleri) Hunting Behavior Through Community Science

    (Crotalus Oreganus Helleri) Hunting Behavior Through Community Science

    diversity Article Quantifying Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri) Hunting Behavior through Community Science Emily R. Urquidi * and Breanna J. Putman Department of Biology, California State University San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: It is increasingly important to study animal behaviors as these are the first responses organisms mount against environmental changes. Rattlesnakes, in particular, are threatened by habitat loss and human activity, and require costly tracking by researchers to quantify the behaviors of wild individuals. Here, we show how photo-vouchered observations submitted by community members can be used to study cryptic predators like rattlesnakes. We utilized two platforms, iNaturalist and HerpMapper, to study the hunting behaviors of wild Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes. From 220 observation photos, we quantified the direction of the hunting coil (i.e., “handedness”), microhabitat use, timing of observations, and age of the snake. With these data, we looked at whether snakes exhibited an ontogenetic shift in behaviors. We found no age differences in coil direction. However, there was a difference in the microhabitats used by juveniles and adults while hunting. We also found that juveniles were most commonly observed during the spring, while adults were more consistently observed throughout the year. Overall, our study shows the potential of using Citation: Urquidi, E.R.; Putman, B.J. community science to study the behaviors of cryptic predators. Quantifying Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri) Keywords: citizen science; conservation; ontogeny; behavioral lateralization; snakes Hunting Behavior through Community Science. Diversity 2021, 13, 349. https://doi.org/10.3390/ d13080349 1.