jones (1927)-descriptions of two new scelopori.pdf

7/28/2019 Jones (1927)-Descriptions of two new Scelopori.pdf

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O CC AS IO NA L P A P E R S O F T H E M U S EU M O FZ O O L O G Y

U N I V E R S IT Y O F M IC H IG A N

DESCRIPTIONS O F TWO NEW SCELOPORI

One of the specimens upon which these new species are basedwas found while examining the United States National Mu-seum collection of the Genus Sceloporus. My attention wascalled to the other type by Dr. Karl P. Schmidt, who includedit among specimens loaned for study by the Field Museum.The species which this specimen represents will undoubtedlyprove interesting, for, as Dr. Schmidt's field notes state, thehabitat conditions are rather unusual for a Sceloporus.Sceloporus cozumelae, new species

Diagnos i s : Head shields feebly keeled or striated; lateralscales directed obliquely upward and backward, abruptly dif-ferentiated from the dorsals, but not granular; series offemoral pores widely separated on preanal region; none oftransversely enlarged supraoculars in contact with mesialhead shields ; adpressed hind limb reaches slightly beyond ear ;tibia shorter than shielded portion of head ; distance from baseof 5th to end of 4th hind toe exceeding distance from end ofsnout to ear; free portion of long hind toe equaling distance


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2 T i n i c e ~ s i t yof Michigan

f rom end of snou t to pos terior angle of o rb i t ; two cantha lseal es.T y p e S p e c i n t e n : Cat. No. 13904, TJiiited States National

Museum ; Cozumel Is land, Yucatan ; TTiiitcd States Fish Com-mission, collector.

B e s c r ip t i o n, of T y p e S p e ci n ze n : Female . ' I Ica d shie ldsI'ecbly keeled or s t r ia ted ; f ro nta l t ransverse ly divided, anter iorport joi i loi igi tudinal ly bisected, posterior port ion in coi i tactwi th an tc r ior pa i r o f pa r i e ta l s bu t s epara ted f rom in te rpa r i e ta lby a small azygous shield; three parietals on each s ide, pos-ter ior larges t ; nter pa r ie ta l hear t -shaped, widest por t ion eqnal -ing length ; 5 t ra i isve rse ly en la rged su y~ ao cu la rs n r igh t s ide ,4 on left s ide, bordered in w ar dly by a com plete row of smallgranular sca les a i id separa ted f rom the snperc i l iar ies by onecoiliplele aiid an incomplete row 01 smal l sca les ; two canthalscalcs on each side ; an ter ior bord er of ea r ver y I'ecbly denticu-l a t c d ; 5 supralab ia ls , junct ion of 4 th an d 5th unde r c e n t e r ofc y e ; 5 i i i f ra labia ls ; dorsa l sca les much larger than vei i t ra ls ,as long as broad, s t rongly Beeled, mucronatc , in about 15longitudinal rows across middle of baclr, lreels nearly parallelbn t converg ing poste riorly toward median l ine , 1 5 equa l ingthe length of shie lded por t ion of he ad ; abou t 53 scales fromposter ior bord er 01 nte rpa r i e ta l to pos ter ior border 01 h i ghs ;la tera l sca les smal ler than dorsa ls , abrupt ly di f ferent ia tedfrom dorsa ls , s t rongly keeled, mucronate and di rec tedoblique ly up w ard an d backward ; ventral scales small , smooth,cntive, hi- or t r icus pid ; abo ut 60 scales aro un d midd le of body ;6 to S femoral pores ; adpressed hin d l imb reaches beyond e a r ;t ib ia shor ter th an shielded p or t ion of head ; dis tance f ro m baseof 5th to end of 4th hind toe exceeding dis tance end of snoutto e a r ; f ree por t ion of long h in d toe equa l ing d is tance f romen d of sn ou t to posterior ang le of orb it .

mm..............................................................................ength from snout to vent 43

Length of shielded portion of head 11......................................ength of hind limb from midventral line 32Length of tibi 10Distance from ....................... 14

..........................................ength of fr ee portion of long hind toe 9


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Occasio?znl Pa pe rs of t h e illusew? z of Zo ology 3

G rou nd color ( i n alcohol) above ol ive brow n, w ith a l igh termid-dorsa l s t r ipe about two scales wide; on each s ide of thestr ip e is a series of 1 0 d ar k brow n, chevron-shapecl m arkings,apex poin t ing fo rw ar d; these marlc ings are ab out oiie an d oiiehal l ' sca les wide and are separa ted longi tudinal ly by about 3scales ; on each s ide therc i s a dorsola tera l l ight s t r ip e run ui ngt h ro u g h t h e a p e s of the chevron-shaped marlcings ; in f ro n t ofthe shoulder the re i s a yel lo~vish whi te m ark, es te ildi iigobl iquc ly upward and forward f rom the inse r t ion of the a rman d d i sappear ing unde r onc of the fo lds of the gu la r po uch ;the l imbs a re fa in t ly b a r red to the t ips wi th da rk brox~rn ; hepos ter ior su rface of t he thigh exhibi t s two d ar k brow n longi-tud ina l s t r ipes sep ara ted b y one of l ight brown or dar lc yellow ;the un de r su r laces are o l a uni form yellowish color.

Eemarlcs: This l izard ( U . S. N. I f . , No. 13904) was or ig-inally identified bj7 Cope (Proc. Amcr. Pliilos. Soc., Oct.,1885 , P a r t IV , V o l. X X I I , N o. 120, p. 388) as Sceloporusscalaris. f lowever , hc could not h ave examined i t v ery c losely,for the Ia tcral scales ar c dis t in ct ly d irected obliquely baclcwardaiid u pw ar d ins tead of being para l le l as they ar e in S. scalaris.Fur the r , thc I ' cmora l porcs a re wide ly separa ted 011 the prc -an al region, an d num ber 6-8, wh ereas the series of porcs i nS. scnlaris approximate ve ry c lose ly and f requent ly a re con-t inuou s across the prea na l region. Th e characteris tic i ium bcrof fem oral pores in thc la t ter species i s f rom 1 3 to 20. Otherdifferences between the two forms arc that the new species hasa bou t 53 sca les l rom the pos te r ior border o l the in te rpar i e ta lto the pos ter ior border of the thighs , whi le the greates t num-ber of scales fo un d i n exa m ining over 1 00 spccimeils of scalarisw as 45. S . cozunzelae has about 60 sca les a round the middleof the body while scalaris has approximate ly 45.

Th e Un i tcd S ta te s Nat ional bIuseum possesses three otherspecimen s (Nos. 17827-8-9) wh ich a re listed fro m CozumelIslan d, Mexico, b u t th e local i ty is quest ioned. How ever, aft era c are ful exam ination of these specimens, I am convii lced t h a tthe y belong to th e same species, a iid a re p robably f rom a local -i ty not remote f rom Cozumcl Is land.


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4 l i n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a nExc ept for sl ight variat ion i n numb ers of scales, femoralpores, length of' limbs, and color, these three specimens are

identical wit11 t l ir type. Am ong the thre e individua ls t liedorsal scale numbers var y from 50 to 54. The num ber ofscales around the middle of the body is about 60 in al l threespecimens. Th e fe m or al po re cou nts a r c '7-8, 7-8 a n d 5-7.l 'he single male specimen has enlarged post a na l plates a ndcsllib its no color differences. The) v en tr al coloration of allthrcc is uniform white .A l f i n i t i e s : The relat ionships ol ' Sc e lopor us c o z ~ o ~ t c l a e recertainly wit11 tlie vnr iab i l i s grou p of Sceloporus an d moredefinitely ~vit l i8. hr y s os t i c tu s , which inhabi ts the mainland01Yuc atan. Fr om the la t te r species i t may be dis tinguishedby the greater number of scales, smaller number of ' femoralpores , shorter h ind l imbs (part icular ly the t ib ia) and by t l ievery different coloration.

Sceloporus schmidt i , ncw specicsDic ly~zos is : Head shields smooth; la teral scales d i rectedo bliq ue ly u p w ard an d b ac l~ ward , n o t g ran u la r an d n o tabrupt ly d i fferent ia ted from dorsals ; ser ies of femoral poreswidely separated on preanal region; none of the enlargedsup rao cu lars i11 contac t wi th th e mesial head shields ; adpressedhind l imb rcaclies beyond e a r ; t ibia longer th an shielded por-t ion of head; distance from base of 5th to end of 4 th h in d toeabout equaling distance Prom end of snout to gular pouch;Cree portio n of long hin d toe sligh tly longe r th a n sllielded por-tion of he ad ; one cantha1 scale on each side.

2'ype Xpcci?lten: Cat. No. 5214, Field niluseurn of NaturalH i5t ory ; Aloniitain Camp- vest cf Sail Pedro , 4,500 feet al t i-t u d e , I Io n d u ras ; M ay 5 , 1 9 2 3 ; K a r l P. Schmidt, collector.

Desc7.iption of T y p e S p e c i n t e n : Female. H ea d shieldssmooth ; fron tal t ra ixversely d iv ided, poster ior port ion in con-tac t wi th an ter io r p ar ie ta l bu t separa ted f rom the in te rpar ie ta lby a small azygous sh ie ld ; in te rpar ie ta l b roader tha n lon g ;2 parietals on eacll s ide, posteriors triai igular in shape, widerthan anter iors but mucl l shorter ; anter iors roughly rectangu-


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Occas ional Papers of t h e M u s e? ~n z f Zoo logy 5lar, long and narrow ; 4 transversely enlarged supraoculars onthe left side with a smaller scale on the outside between thefirst and second; on the right 4 transversely enlarged supra-oculars form an inner row and between the first and third,marginal to the first row, are two smaller scales; supraocularsbo~~ndednwardly by one complete row of small granular scalesand separated from the ~upe~ciliariesy one complete and anillcomplete row of small scales; one canthal scale on each sidehut when viewed from above a supercanthal gives the appear-ai~ce f 2 ; 5 supralabials, center of eye directly above junctiono:f 4 and 5 ; 5 or 6 infralabials; 3 or 4 slightly enlarged acu-minate scales form a denticulation on the anterior border ofthe ear; dorsal scales larger than ventrals, as long as broad?strongly keeled, mucroilatc and somewhat denticulate, keelsrorming pa.ralle1 series which converge slightly toward medianline; about 12 rows across middle of back; 42 scales fromposterior margin of iilterparictal to posterior border of thighs;8 scales taken in middle of back correspond to length ofsllielcled part of head; lateral scales smaller than dorsals,strongly Beeled, mucronate, directed obliquely upward andbackxvard, merging above with dorsals and below with vea-trals; about 45 scales around middle of body; ventral scalessmall, smooth, entire or bicuspid; posterior surface of thi&co~eredwith small keeled acuminate scales smaller than thosepreceding vent ; 1 2 :femoral pores on each side ; adpresscd hindlimb reaches beyond ear to angle of jaws; tibia longer thanshielded part of head; dista~ecrom base of 5th to end of 4thhind toe (less claw) equals distance from end of snout to gularpouch; free portioil of long hind toe slightly longer thanshielded part of head and equaling distance from end of snoutto angle of jaws.

mm.

Distance from base of 5th to end of 4th hind toe ............. 22.5Length of tibi 17T,ength of frce IG


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Ground color above dark olive, with two series of indistinct,dorsal, sooty brown blotches which anteriorly Uorm loagitu-d i i ~a l ands converging from the ear across the scapular re-gioa; bet~vecn llese on the ilecli arc three indistinct sootybrown loilgitudinal baiids which begin at the head, coilvergctoward the median line, and disappear bctweeil the shoulders;the appendages are transversely banded to the tip with sootybrown; 011 the sides are obsolete rows of dark blotches; a n i11-distinct darli triangular blotch appears on the shoulder; thchead has ilumerous light brown blotches, oiie in the ceiitcr ofthe interparietal surrounding the piiical cye, another on theI'rontal, and others appear on tlrc prel'rontal and shields ofthe internasal regions; spots of the same color appear eitheras distinct spots or fused with othcrs along thc marginal eclgesof the cnlarged trailsvcrse supraoculars; the under snrfacesare slaty gray, washed with a tinge of light blue or greenish,the ccntcr of the individual scales are lain tly greenish, an dthe marg ins are light brown ; thc ailtcrior portion of the undersurface of the ta il has a dis tinct greenish cast wi th the coloi-more iiiteilse than on the belly and throat; the posterior snr-face o r the thigh has a sooty br o l ~ n and above I'ollonred byoilc ot' slaty gray, which still lower is replaced by ailotllersooty brow11 band, in turn giving away to the previously de-scribed ventral color.

IInbilal : Regarding the locality and liabitat Dr. Sclllllidthas wri tten me as follows: "This locality is in a nlcll defined'cloud forest,' which begins at about 4,000 feet and csteildsto thc tops of the ridges, 5,000 to 6,000 feet aboxe sea l e d .The vegetation forms a mixed liard~~oodorest ~vi th rees 80lo 100 feet high, an d hcavy undergrowth of tree ferns anddwarf palms. The trees and eve11 thc lianas ca rry aumeronsbromeliads, wliicll are supplied with moisture by daily rainsand fogs.

1 1 During a ~ileelr'sstay in March-April, 1923, Mr. JValtersand I were encamped in the palm-thatched shelter of a 'Sar-saero' (Sarsaparilla hunter ), a t 4,500 fect, on a shoulder ofthe moui~taii is vcrlooliing the vallcjr of the Rio Sailta Anna.


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Occnsio?znZ Y n p e ~ sf th e IlIz~seuntof Zoology 7M7c saw no Sccloporus. On May 5th I returned alone wit11Iieavjr a s and tlic camera to collect from thc bromeliads, asthcse had already yielded two species of salamanders. 011myarrival at the shelter, I was greeted by the Sceloporus on oneside of thc uprights.

"The habitat conditions secin unusual lo r a Sceloporus, andI suspect that this specimen rcprescnts a stray from the muchdrier pine-oak zone below 4,000 feet. The month of April hadbeen an unusually dry one, and thc low ground was every-\~ .herc uffering Irom continued drouth. A spring at 3,500f ~ e tacl dried up during April, wl~ilchc one below our campsho\ved no diminutioil of flow. '

Dr. Schmidt will undoubtedly publish a complete accountof t h e gcography of this region in the near future. I t iscnouqh to note here that the general region is undoubtedly acontjnuation of the Central American mountain mass whichestcilds from Chiapas to Nicaragua.

Afin i i ies: Sceloportcs schmidt i belongs with the forntosusgroup of Scelopori. I t is probablc that specimens Prom locali-tics intcrmediate between the range of S. fornzosus and thetype locality of this new species will reveal intergradingcharacters such that schnzidti will bc recognized as a subspecieso f or?)losus.

From the latter species it differs id the character of thedorsal scales, length of limbs, and coloration.


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jones (1927)-descriptions of two new scelopori.pdf

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