Herpetology Notes, volume 7: 551-553 (2014) (published online on 3 October 2014)

A new state record for Aguascalientes, : Phrynosoma cornutum (: ), the horned

José Carlos Arenas-Monroy1*, Uri Omar García-Vázquez1, Rubén Alonso Carbajal-Márquez2 and Armando Cardona-Arceo3

Horned of the Phrynosoma are widely most are typical of the Chihuahuan herpetofauna distributed through and range from (Morafka, 1977); some of these have only southern Canada to western Guatemala (Sherbrooke, recently been documented (e.g. Quintero-Díaz et al., 2003). The genus comprises 17 species (Leaché and 2008; Sigala-Rodríguez et al., 2008; Sigala-Rodríguez McGuire, 2006; Nieto-Montes de Oca et al., 2014) and Greene, 2009). However, these arid plains still that exhibit exceptional morphological, ecological, remain relatively unexplored, because the majority and behavioral adaptations to arid environments of sampling efforts have focused on the canyons, (Sherbrooke, 1990, 2003). mountains, and sierras on the western half of the state Of these, Phrynosoma cornutum (Harlan, 1825) (Vázquez-Díaz and Quintero-Díaz, 2005). Here, we inhabits grasslands and scrublands from central United document the first records of Phrynosoma cornutum States southward to the Mexican states of Chihuahua, from the state of Aguascalientes. Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, During a field trip on 16 July 2008, UOGV collected a Sonora, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas from sea level up to male Phrynosoma cornutum ca. 4.7 km S of San Jacinto, 1830 m above sea level (m asl); this species has one of Rincón de Romos (22.304219°N, 102.238156°W; the largest ranges in the genus (Price, 1990). datum WGS84; 1785m asl). Three years later, on 15 To our knowledge, in Aguascalientes currently 79 March 2011, ACA captured a second male P. cornutum species of herpetofauna (17 amphibians and 62 ) near Presa Natillas, 2.4 km NW of Cosio (22.373503°, are known to occur within the state. Half of these species -102.322239°; datum WGS84; 2054m asl). The first inhabit the northern and eastern plains (Vázquez-Díaz specimen was deposited in the Museo de Zoología, and Quintero-Díaz, 2005), in the arid portion of the state Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM (voucher specimen MZFC characterized by natural grasslands and scrublands, and 22958). The second specimen was photographed (Fig. 1) and then released in the same place it was captured. The voucher and the photographed specimens were verified by A. Mendoza-Hernández and T. J. Devitt, respectively. These two specimens represent the first records of the species for the state of Aguascalientes (Fig. 2), and 1 Laboratorio de Herpetología, Museo de Zoología, extend the known geographic range of P. cornutum ca. Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, 103 km (straightline) SSW form 3.20 km (by road) E Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510. Distrito of Illescas, San Luis Potosí (museum specimens LSU Federal, México. 2416-17), and ca. 175 km (straightline) SE from Presa El 2 Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, Instituto Cazadero, Río Grande, Zacatecas (museum specimens Politécnico Nacional 195, Colonia Playa Palo de Santa Rita USNM 238328-29) (Price, 1990; HerpNET, 2013). The Sur, 23096. La Paz, Baja California Sur, México. voucher specimen (MZFC 22958) was found inactive 3 Secretaría de Desarrollo Rural y Agroempresarial, Av. López Mateos 1502 Oriente, 20252. Aguascalientes, on the ground in Opuntia shrubs; and the photographed Aguascalientes, México. specimen was found under a large boulder in the bottom * Correspondence: [email protected] of a rock fence in a patch of natural grassland. 552 José Carlos Arenas-Monroy et al.

Prior to our discovery two species of horned lizards have been recorded for Aguascalientes, the Round- tailed (Phrynosoma modestum) and the Mountain horned lizard (P. orbiculare). Of these two species, P. modestum appears to be extremely rare and only known by a single collected specimen (McCranie and Wilson, 2001). Several attempts to locate additional specimens of P. modestum in Aguascalientes have proven unsuccessful (Sigala-Rodríguez and Greene, 2009). Presumably the object-mimicry exhibited in P. cornutum, and P. modestum makes them difficult to detect by predators and field biologists alike (Sherbrooke, 2002). However, low densities coupled with habitat degradation, and relatively poor sampling Figure 1. Adult male of Phrynosoma cornutum, from near in the southern geographic limits of the aforementioned Presa Natillas, Cosio, Aguascalientes. species could also be obscuring the discovery of additional specimens.

Figure 2. Collecting localities for Phrynosoma cornutum across its southern geographic range in Mexico; red circles represent new records of P. cornutum for Aguascalientes, and black circles nearest recorded localities. The red-hatched area represents the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species distribution of P. cornutum (Hammerson, 2007). A new state record of Phrynosoma cornutum for Aguascalientes, Mexico 553

Acknowledgements. We dedicate this note to the late J. Vázquez- Price, A.H. (1990): Phrynosoma cornutum. Catalogue of American Díaz, an extraordinary biologist and beloved friend who made Amphibians and Reptiles 469:1-7. several contributions to the knowledge and conservation of Quintero-Díaz, G.E., Vázquez-Díaz, J., Sigala-Rodríguez, J.J. Aguascalientes herpetofauna. We thank R. W. Bryson Jr., for (2008): Reptiles. In: La Biodiversidad en Aguascalientes: comments on a previous draft of this note, and T. J. Devitt Estudio de Estado, p. 141-147. Ávila-Villegas, H., Melgarejo, for evaluating the significance of the manuscript prior to E.D., Cruz-Angón, A., Eds. Aguascalientes, CONABIO-IMAE- submission. UAA. Sherbrooke, W.C. (1990): Rain-harvesting in the lizard, Phrynosoma References cornutum: behavior and integumental morphology. Journal of Herpetology 24: 302-308. Hammerson, G.A. (2007): Phrynosoma cornutum. IUCN Red Sherbrooke, W.C. (2002): Do vertebral-line patterns in two horned List of Threatened Species, version 2010.4. Available at: www. lizards (Phrynosoma spp.) mimic plant-stem shadows and stem iucnredlist.org. Last accessed on 24 March 2011. litter? Journal of Arid Environments 50: 109-120. HerpNET (2013): HerpNET Portal. Available at: www.herpnet.org. Sherbrooke, W.C. (2003): Introduction to Horned Lizards of North Last accessed on 24 March 2011. America. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Leaché, A.D., McGuire, J.A. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships Press. of horned lizards (Phrynosoma) based on nuclear and Sigala-Rodríguez, J.J., Greene, H.W. (2009): Landscape change mitochondrial data: evidence for a misleading mitochondrial and conservation priorities: Mexican herpetofaunal perspectives gene tree. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39: 628-644. at local and regional scales. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad McCranie, J.R., Wilson, L.D. (2001): The herpetofauna of the 80: 231-240. Mexican state of Aguascalientes. Courier Forschungsinstitut Sigala-Rodríguez, J.J., Vázquez-Díaz, J., Quintero-Díaz, G.E., Senckenberg 230: 1-57. Sigala-Rodríguez, J.I., Reyes-Ardit, R. (2008): Geographic Morafka, D.J. (1977): A biogeographical analysis of the Chihuahuan distribution: Coluber (=Masticophis) taeniatus. Herpetological desert through its herpetofauna. The Hague, Dr. W. Junk B.V. Review 39: 240. Publishers. Vázquez-Díaz, J., Quintero-Díaz, G.E. (2005): Anfibios y reptiles Nieto-Montes de Oca, A., Arenas-Moreno, D., Beltrán-Sanchez, de Aguascalientes. Aguascalientes, CONABIO-CIEMA. E., Leaché, A.D. (2014): A new species of horned lizard (Genus Phrynosoma) from Guerrero, México, with an updated multilocus phylogeny. Herpetologica 70:241-257.

Accepted by Mirco Solé