THE HERPETOFAUNA OF GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK by JIM W. GRACE, B.S. A THESIS IN RANGE SCIENCE (WILDLIFE SCIENCE) Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved Accepted May, 198 0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Dr. John D. Garcia, and the other members of my committee, Drs. Henry A. Wright, C. David Simpson, and John S. Mecham for their helpful comments. Upon the untimely death of Dr. Garcia, Dr. Fred S. Guthery graciously assumed the chair of the committee. This thesis benefited significantly from Dr. Guthery's comments. I am deeply grateful for the cooperation and hospital­ ity of the staff of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, par­ ticularly Roger Reisch, Mike and Joan Mayer, and Harry and Anne Steed. Meredith Rohde kindly prepared the base map used for the distribution maps. I would like to thank Don Phillips for his patient assistance with the computer analysis. Ed Hammock, and Glen and John Gilmore cordially provided access to remote areas through their property. Dr. Danny B. Pence prepared, and Dr. Richard B. Loomis identified, the ectoparasites. Drs. James F. Scudday and John S. Applegarth assisted with comments on the area herpetofauna. The following persons provided information on specimens from museum collections: R. Z. Zweifel, J. T. Collins, J. F Scudday, M. McCoid, D. Mosier, E. McGhee, F. I. McCullough, R. G. Webb, J. S. Applegarth, and B. C. Brown. ii I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Gary Alstrand and the financial support of the National Park Service through contracts PX702900317 and CX702990008. Ill CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES V LIST OF FIGURES vi I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 3 III. STUDY AREA AND METHODS 4 Description of Study Plots 15 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 2 0 Species Accounts 2 0 Analysis of Study Plots 119 Species Present 119 Environmental Factors 122 Effect of Operator on Count 126 Community Composition 127 Abundance 13 0 Age Ratios 13 6 Cover 13 9 Ectoparasites 144 Summary 14 6 LITERATURE CITED 14 8 APPENDIX: LIST OF SPECIMENS 157 IV LIST OF TABLES 1. Characteristics of study plots 16 2. Amphibian and reptile occurrence in plant communities of the GMNP area 22 3. Lizard species observed in plant communities 120 4. Univariate correlations (r) between environmental variables and lizard abundance. Lizard species are those seen most often 124 5. Indices of lizard abundance (maximum and mean number per hectare). Counts in which the species was not observed were excluded 132 6. Lizards observed on plots more than once,the cover they flushed to, and the diversity index for cover 141 7. Chiggers found on amphibians and reptiles from Guadalupe Mountains National Park 14 5 V LIST OF FIGURES 1. Landmarks of Guadalupe Mountains National Park and locations discussed in text 5 2. Location of study plots at Guadalupe Mountains National Park 11 3. Modified line transect technique used to census study plots 13 4. Distributional records for Ambystoma tigrinum in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 21 5. Distributional records for Scaphiopus couchi in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 2 6 6. Distributional records for Scaphiopus bombifrons in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 28 7. Distributional records for Scaphiopus multiplicatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 3 0 8. Distributional records for Bufo cognatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 32 9. Distributional records for Bufo speciosus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 34 10. Distributional records for Bufo punctatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 35 11. Distributional records for Bufo debilis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 38 12. Distributional records for Rana berlandieri in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 4 0 VI 13. Distributional records for Kinosternon flavescens in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 41 14. Distributional records for Terrapene ornata in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 43 15. Distributional records for Coleonyx brevis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 4 6 16. Distributional records for Crotaphytus collaris in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 47 17. Distributional records for Gambelia wislizeni in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 4 9 18. Distributional records for Holbrookia texana in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 51 19. Distributional records for Holbrookia maculata in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 53 20. Distributional records for Sceloporus poinsetti in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 55 21. Distributional records for Sceloporus magister in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 56 22. Distributional records for Sceloporus undulatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 58 23. Distributional records for Urosaurus ornatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 60 24. Distributional records for Uta stansburiana in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 61 Vll 25. Distributional records for Phrynosoma cornutum in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 6 3 26. Distributional records for Phrynosoma douglassi in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 64 27. Distributional records for Phrynosoma modestum in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 66 28. Distributional records for Cnemidophorus exsanguis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 68 29. Distributional records for Cnemidophorus inornatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 7 0 30. Distributional records for Cnemidophorus tesselatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 71 31. Distributional records for Cnemidophorus tigris in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 7 3 32. Distributional records for Eumeces obsoletus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 7 4 33. Distributional records for Eumeces multivirgatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 76 34. Distributional records for Leptothyphlops dulcis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 78 35. Distributional records for Thamnophis cyrtopsis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 8 0 36. Distributional records for Diadophis punctatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 8 3 Vlll 37. Distributional records for Masticophis flagellum in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 84 38. Distributional records for Masticophis taeniatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 8 5 39. Distributional records for Salvadora grahamiae in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 8 7 40. Distributional records for Elaphe guttata in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 8 9 41. Distributional records for Elaphe subocularis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 90 42. Distributional records for Arizona elegans in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 92 43. Distributional records for Pituophis melanoleucus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 93 44. Distributional records for Lampropeltis getulus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 95 45. Distributional records for Lampropeltis mexicana in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 96 46. Distributional records for Rhinocheilus lecontei in the immediate vicinity ol: Guadalupe Mountains National Park 98 47. Distributional records for Sonora semiannulata in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 99 48. Distributional records for Gyalopion canum in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 101 IX 49. Distributional records for Hypsiglena torquata in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 102 50. Distributional records for Tantilla nigriceps in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 103 51. Distributional records for Tantilla atriceps in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 105 52. Distributional records for Crotalus atrox in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 106 53. Distributional records for Crotalus scutulatus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 107 54. Distributional records for Crotalus viridis in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 109 55. Distributional records for Crotalus molossus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 111 56. Distributional records for Crotalus lepidus in the immediate vicinity of Guadalupe Mountains National Park 113 57. Number of lizard species, and the total number of lizards per hectare seen in the ten plant communities 12 9 58. Monthly change in lizard abundance in creosotebush, mesquite, fourwing saltbush, and the mean for all plant communities 131 59. Monthly changes in the relative proportion of juveniles to adults of Cnemidophorus tigris and Uta stansburiana 137 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION