The Amphibians and Reptiles from the State of Aguascalientes, Mexico, in the Collections of the California Academy of Sciences
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THE AL OF BIOLOGY VOL. 20 , SPRlNG, 1962 The Amphibians and Reptiles from the State of Aguascalientes, Mexico, 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 Reptile , 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 Jalisco. 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 ~ <j1 ~ juv. juv. juv. <j1 Head width 23 25 24 14.5 13 12.5 19.5 Head length 25 26 26 16.3 15.5 15 20 Body length 63 71 63 45 43 3 49 Tibia length 30 32 31 21 21 1 24 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 Pituophis 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'.