THE AL OF BIOLOGY

VOL. 20 , SPRlNG, 1962

The Amphibians and from the State of , , in the Collections of the California Academy of Sciences

BENJAMI H. BANTA,t Oalitomia Academy ot ciences, an F1·ancisco 18, and Unive1·sity of San F1·an isco.

R cent accessions from mainland Mexico to the collection of the Department of Amphibians and , alifornia Academy of cience:, include two collections obtained in "'Ua calientes, a tate in the ·outhern Mexican Plateau. One was obtained by the author in ept mber, 1957, and the other by Mr. David Rentz, Department of Entomolo"'y, alifornia Academy of cience , in Augu t, 1960. Detail regarding the herpetofauna of the Central Mexican Plateau of which Agua caliente is a part, remain to be worked out. However, notable collections of amphibian and rep­ tile from the entral iexican Plateau in general, and the tate of Agua ·caliente in particular, have be n made by tudent and staff from the Museum of Zoology, University of l£ichigan; the niver it~ - of Illinois; the Mu eum of Vertebrate Zoology, ni­ versity of 'alifornia· and the Divi ion of y tematic BioiO"'Y tanford 'Gniversity. Thi region wiU probably oon become one of the best known Mexican area herpetologicaUy speakin"'. Agua caliente i one of the maller tates of Mexico. It occu­ pie a land urface area of approximately 400 quare miles. To the north, ea t, and west, it is surrounded by the engulfing politi­ cal boundaries of the much larger state of Zacatecas, to which it wa once attached politically. To the outh i the tate of . The topo"'raphy of the area varie in elevation from around 6000 fe t in the central valley area to a hei"'ht of 9 52 feet for

I. Partial assistance for this work was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation. [ 99 ] 100 THE WASMAN JO RNAL OF BIOLOGY, Vor.. 20, 1962

erro J.;a. Ardilla in the ierra fadre Oc ident.al which ri.· along the western mar..,.ius. A . maller mountain rancre attains a height of 7 1 feet in the northeastern portion of Aauas ali ente. in the vicinity of the minina community of Asiento . Most of the human habitation are lo a ted in the entral. t·caion. Agricu lture ha · been carried on in the va ll ey area. for a number of year , but on a much larger cale : ince the constru tion of numerou: dam in the late 1920 . An a teri k (•) preceding the species name indicates that the t·ecord i new to the state of Agua caliente·. Th e symbol AS refers to the alifornia Academy of cience. . All mea nrements are in millimeters. Time of day, when given is ba ed on the 24- hour cale. All data pertainina to color were made from pre- erve] . pecimcns.

AMPHIBIA ALIE TI

P ELOBATIDAE Scaphiopus multiplicatus Cope. A 740:1:. 1 mile northeast of Pre a de Llavero on gua - alientes-Loreto [Zaec'ttecas] highway. eptember 13, 1957. auaht hopping aero hiahway at 20:53. E levation 6350 feet. B 'ERVATIO : . Dor al pattern moderately warty, dal"l~ olive brown with recrularly ·cattered light blotche ; con picuou · light colored verti al tripe on snout. Ventral pattern mooth, creamy white. fEA UREMENT . Body ( uout- occyx) len"'th 47; tibia length 16; head width 1 · head lencrth 15.5.

RA IDAE Rana montezumae Baird. A 73 - 7395. ear Granja Tepezaleya. eptember 10, 1957. hot between 16:55 and17 :21 alongside bank of Arroyo de 'l'epezal ' ya. Tbi · population wa very large and the individuals were extremely wiJd during the time of da ~ r collections were made. Elevation 6100 fe t. AMPHIBIAN A 'D REPTILES FROM MEXICQ-BA TA 101

OBSER \'ATIO r-.'1-i. Venter. u ·ually imma ulate cream? white. Dor­ sum ln·own with widely scattered ovally elonO'ate da d' bt·own blotches not on picuou.ly differentiated from ()'enet·al hack()'round oloration. Disjunct elono-ated rid()'e between dor. olateral fold . . elected mea ·urements are provided on table 1.

TABU: 1 Selected m easm·eme11ts t01· Rana montezumae. CAS Numbers 87389 87390 87391 87392 87393 87394 87395 S X ~

Rana pipiens berlandieri Baird. 7396. Obtained with the preceding ·ample of R(ma mon­ t zmnae alonO' ide of bank of Arroyo de Te1 e11aleya. OB ERVATIO s. Dorsum with brown oval- haped blotches with li ght-colored bord rs. Venter light immaculate ivory. l\1K\. REMENT. . Body length 9; tibia length 34 ; head width 20.5 · head lenO'th 24.

BUFONIDAE Bufo punctatus Baird and Gir·ard. A. 9761- 9763. 16 mile northwe ·t A()'ua·calie11tcs (cit?) on ridge overlookin()' Presa Jocoque. August 19, J 960. ollccted by David Rentz in the evening. RaininO'. OB. ERVATION. . The venter of all specimens had irr gularly . cattered dark-bordered, light-centered blotches pre:ent. The red spot on dor um were widely catter d and u uall:' bordered by dark pigment c ll . Measurements are provided in table 2.

TAOLE 2 elected meastt?·ements tor Bufo punctatus. CAS Numbers 89761 89762 9763 Head width 17 18.5 19 Head length 14 14.5 14.5 Body length 41 47 49 Tibia length 15 17 ] .5 102 THE WASMA JO R AL OF BIOLOGY, Vo1 .. 20, 1962

Bufo cognatus ay. 7399. eat· hri tostomus [Zacateca. boL"d t] on th Agua:caliente. -Loteto hi..,.hway. eptembet 11, 1957. aught alh·e hoppin..,. alan..,. ·ide road at 21 :25. Elevation 6200 f ct. Wind,,- : cattered clouds; full moon. Os. ER\".WION ·. onspicuous light-color·ed dot·somed.ial tripe. Dotal blotche mo tly ed"' d by darker pi"'ment. . Ventral ur­ face mo tly creamy white becomin(J' muddy in po terior quatt r. MEA. 'u RmtE~T •. Body length 57· head length 26 ; head width 26; tympanum 4; tibia length 25.

REPTILIA QUAMATA SAURIA

!OUANIDAE •Sceloporus hor ridus oligoporus op 73 6- 73 7. ear Grm1ja Tepezaleya. along Agua. cali- ente!- aldllo hi"'lnvay. eptember 10, 1957. hot on top of boul ] r f nee bot·dering road between 16 :3 and 16 :40. Both specimens have a fairly uniform light yellow venter and a chevron pattern of dark on li..,.ht on the "'Ular region, omewhat . imilar to that of most spe imen. of . spino us spinosus. :Meri.tic and morphometric data are . hown on table 3.

TAI!T.E 3 Sel ctecl m easm·ements tor Sceloporus bonidus oligoporus Cope. CAS Number 87386 87387

Sex <;? <;? Snout- vent length 87 80 Tail length 144 Dorsal scales 33 31 Ventral scales 38 36 Ventral· into head 16 15 Femoral pores (both thighs) 5 6 AMPHIBIAN A 1D REPTILES FROM MEXIC BANTA 103

Sceloporus spinosus spinosus Wiegmann. A 7406. 2mile outbLaCiudaddelosNii'io ,alonn-Ilidalgo Highway. eptember· J 3, 1957. Elevation 6100 feet. hot at J4: 3 on top of boulder alono- ide of dirt road. On. ERVA'l'ION . Adult ~ · dor al . cale, 30; ventr·al scale, 40; ventrals into head 1 · ·upraocu lar~, 4; canthal., 2· femoral pore (both thin-hs) 17. hevroned throat. Light dor olateral stripe. JH' ent. }illA · REMEN'l'. ·. nout-vent length 0; head length, 21.3; axilla to "'l'Oin distance 3 ; tail len()'t h, 113 ; fo relerr, 33; hindlcg, 52.

ERPE TE

CoLUBRIDAE Arizona elegans expolita Rlauhet·. AS 7403. 1 mile south Juan Bati ta. ou Mexico highway 45. eptember 12, 1957. 6200 feet. Found dead on road at 20:57. ultivated area. 0B.'ERVA'l'IO cales in 27-25-17 longitudinal row. · ventral 197· ubcaudal 42; upper labial. · lower labial. 10; !oreal 1; preocular 1· po tocular 2; temporal · 2 + 4; prefrontal 2; dorsal body blotches 43; tail blotches 10. ~fEASUREME 'l' AND BODY PROPOR'l'IO S. Snout-vent lenrrth 404; tail length/total length 13.

Pituophis deppei deppei Dumeril. All of the folJowinrr specimen· are juvenile . AS 87397. I.Joreto-Aguascalicnte hi ghway, 2 mile.· east of junction with Mexico highway 45. September 11, 1957. Elevation 6200 feet. Dead on bio-hway at 20:05. AS 87401. 1 mile southwe t of Presa de Llavero, on Loreto­ A"'uascalientes highway. eptember 12, 1957. Elevation 6400 feet. IIit by car at 19 :25. Cultivated area. A 87405. 3 mile wet outhwet aii.ada Honda. eptembcr 13, 1957. Elevation 6350 feet. Dead on highway at 21:39. Morphological variation, ba:ed on ob. ervations and measure­ ment. , is shown in table 4. ] 04 THE WASMA JO R AL OF BIOLOGY, Vo1.. 20, 1962

TABLE 4 Mor pllologicctl vm·iation in deppei deppei. CA umbe r 87397 8i401 i 405 Ventrals 212 217 Subca udals 55 65 57 8 10-11 9-10 Body blotches 39 40 36 Tail nng 10 17 14 Snout-v nt length 340 30 315 Tail length 53 62 50

• Thamnophis subcarinata megalops Kennieott. 7-!02. 1 mile southwest of afiada lion ]a. eptember 12 1957. Elevation 6300 feet. Dead on highway at . ide of pav - ment. ~o watercour ·e nearby; area uncultivated. OB~ER\ ' ATION . Ventrals 16 ; subcaudals 79 ; dorsal cale rows 21- 20- 17· ·upralabial.· ; infralabial 9; ]oreal 1. Con picuou lio-ht-colored dor omedial stripe ( 3 cales wide) and a lateral . tripe (2 .- ale wide) on each ide. {E.\ RE)!EX'l'.. nout-vent length 4 2; tail leno-th 150.

•Hypsiglena torquata janii Duges. A 636. 4.4 miles ea t northea t ai'iada Honda on Loreto- Agua ·ca liente hiO'hway. eptember 11, 1957. Elevation 6300 auo-ht alive on hiO'hway at 20:42. Windy. On. F.KVATIOX . . Ventral 164; subcaudals 43; ·cale rows 21- 20- 1 ; ·uprala.bial · · infralabials ; body blotche 52· tail rino- 20. MEA: RE)!EXT ·. nout-vent length 360; tail length 65.

CROTALIDAE • Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus Kennicott. A. 739 (juvenile). 3mile northwetof aiiadallondaon AO'ua ·caliente:-Loreto highway. eptember 11, 1957. Elevation 6300 feet. au()'ht alive on highway at 20:30. A 7-:1-00. 5 miles northwest of ai'iada Honda on Ao-uascali­ ente -Loreto highway. eptember 12, 1957. Elevation 6375 feet. auO'ht a]i,·e on hiO'hway at 19 :55. Windy; air temperature 76 °F . AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES FROM MEXI 0 - BAN'T'A 105

I am in lebted to Dr. Laur·enc l\I. Klauber of an DieO'o, ali­ forn ia, fot' the detrt·mination of the ·e rattle ·nake specimen ·. Observation: ancl measurement· are provided on table 5.

TABI.I" 5

CA 739 7400 173 171 20 21 rows 28- 26- 19 2 - 26- 19 34 31 3 3 nout·vent length 320 fi 90 Tail length 19 ~ 0

BIBLIOGRAPHY

B .\ NTA, BENJAMIN H., AND ALAN E. LEVITON 1961. A 1·ecord of Al·izo11Ct elegans expolita from the ·tate of Augua ·­ caliente , Mexico. Herpetologica, 17:71- 72.

llll.\I'LI\I' Y, PF.TE S., KENNETH WILLIAM , ANll HOOAII'I' M. S~tiTII 1961. oteworthy records of amphibians from Mexico. Herpeto­ logica, 17: 85-90.

KL.\1 BEll, L .\ L' HEN C' F. M. 1956. Rattlesnakes. Their habits, life historie , a nd influence on mankind. Berkeley and Los Angeles : Univers ity of Cali for­ nia Press. 2 vols., xxix + 708, xvi + 709- 1476 pp. s~ II ' I ' H , HoB.\HT M . 1949. The identity of Co11tb er subca1·inatct Gray. Herpetologica , vol. 5, pp. 63-64. AliTll H oB.\RT M., AND EDWAtlll H. T AYLOR 1945. An annotated checklist and key to the of Mexi co. United States National Mu eum Bulletin 187, 239 pp. 19~8. An annotated checklist and key to the amphibia of Mexico. nited States ational Museum Bulletin 194, 118 pp. 19o0. An annotated checkli t and key to the reptiles of Mexico ex­ clusive of the . United States National Museum Bulletin 199, 253 pp.

ZWEIFEL, R IOIIAitll G. 1954. A new frog of the genus Rana from westem Mexico with a key to the Mexican species of the genus. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 53 : 131- 141. 1957. A new f1·og of the genus Rana from Michoacan, Mexico. Copeia. 1957, (2) :78- 83.