Archives of The Cold Blooded News

The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

Volume 31, Number 1;   January, 2004

New Herpetological Taxonomic Changes and Species

(Courtesy of the Center for North America Herpetology)

Chrysemys now 2 species
Starkey, David E., H. Bradley Shaffer, Russell L. Burke, Michael R. J. Forstner, John B. Iverson, Fredric J. Janzen, Anders G. J. Rhodin, and Gordon R. Ultsch [2003 Molecular systematics, phylogeography, and the effects of Pleistocene glaciation in the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) complex. Evolution 57(1): 119-128] recognized two evolutionary lineages within the genus Chrysemys: C. dorsalis in the southern Mississippi drainage, and C. picta from the rest of the range of the genus. They find no support for subspecies designations in the genus. No web site given.

Crotalus horridus
Clark, Moler, Possardt, Savitzky, Brown, & Bowen (2003 Journal of Herpetology 37(1): 145-154), using mtDNA, concluded that no subspecies could be defined within Crotalus horridus. Their results corroborated the conclusion (using a different data set) arrived at three decades ago by Pisani, Collins, & Edwards (1973 Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 75: 255-263).

Crotalus viridis now 7 species
Douglas, Douglas, Schuett, Porras, & Holycross [2002. Phylogeography of the Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) Complex, With Emphasis on the Colorado Plateau]. Pp. 11-50. In Biology of the Vipers [Schuett, Höggren, Douglas, and Greene (editors). Eagle Mountain Publishing, Eagle Mountain, Utah. xii + 580 pp. + 16 color plates] split the former Crotalus viridis into seven species: C. abyssus, C. cerberus, C. concolor, C. helleri, C. lutosus, C. oreganus, and C. viridis. Standard common names for these seven evolutionary lineages match exactly those as listed in Collins & Taggart (2002 Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians. Fifth Edition. iv + 44 pp.) <http://www.eaglemountainpublishing.com/>.

Elaphe guttata now 3 species
Frank T. Burbrink (2002 Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 25(3): 465-476), using mtDNA, showed that the taxon previously referred to as Elaphe guttata consists of three distinct evolutionary lineages (=species), E. guttata, E. emoryi, and a new species, Elaphe slowinskii. Go to the CNAH common names checklist on the home page and check out the images of all three taxa. No web site given.

Heterodon kennerlyi
Smith, Chiszar, Eckerman & Walley [2003 The Taxonomic Status of the Mexican Hognose Snake Heterodon kennerlyi Kennicott (1860). Journal of Kansas Herpetology 5: 17-20] recommended that this taxon be recognized as a distinct species. Standard common name remains the same.

Pantherophis replaces Elaphe
Utiger, Helfenberger, Schatti, Schmidt, Ruf & Ziswiler (2002 Russian Journal of Herpetology 9(2): 105-124), using mtDNA, presented evidence that North American Rat Snakes of the genus Elaphe are a monophyletic lineage different from Old World members of the genus, and resurrected the available name Pantherophis Fitzinger for all North American (north of Mexico) taxa. <http://www.folium.ru/en/journals/rjh/contents/2002/2002-02.htm>.

Sceloporus undulatus revised
Leaché and Reeder (2002 Systematic Biology 51(1): 44-68) concluded that this taxon is composed of four distinct species, Sceloporus undulatus, Sceloporus consobrinus, Sceloporus tristichus, and Sceloporus cowlesi. They consider all races within the former Sceloporus undulatus (sensu lato) to be ecomorphs, and do not recommend continued recognition of any subspecies. No web site.

Emydid Turtle Taxonomy
Stephens, Patrick R. and John J. Wiens (2003, Ecological Diversification and Phylogeny of Emydid Turtles. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 79: 577-610) recommend some taxonomic changes amongst these freshwater chelonians. Many of their recommendations have implications for North American taxa. For a reprint or pdf, contact the authors at pstephens@life.bio.sunysb.edu or wiensj@life.bio.sunysb.edu. Consult the Turtle section of the CNAH www.cnah.org checklist on the CNAH main page for details of recommended taxonomic changes or support of existing taxonomy by Stephens and Wiens (2003).

Family Scaphiopodidae
García-París, Mario, Daniel R. Buchholz, and Gabriela Parra-Olea. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships of Pelobatoidea re-examined using mtDNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28(1): 12-23. The authors used partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and 16S RNA) from all Pelobatoidea subclades, including all species of Pelobatidae and Pelodytidae and four outgroup taxa (Xenopus, Ascaphus, Discoglossus, and Rana), to propose a phylogenetic hypothesis for relationships within Pelobatoidea. They showed that the family Pelobatidae, as previously defined is not monophyletic, and should be split into Eurasian Spadefoots, Pelobates, which retain the family name Pelobatidae and North American Spadefoots, Scaphiopus and Spea, which comprise the revived family Scaphiopodidae. Their analysis uncovered the existence of morphologically cryptic taxa within previously recognized species of the genus Spea.

Lizard Families Condensed
Schulte, James A. II, John Pablo Valladares & Allan Larson (2003. Phylogenetic Relationships within Iguanidae Inferred using Molecular and Morphological Data and a Phylogenetic Taxonomy of Iguanian Lizards. Herpetologica 59(3): 399-419) proposed placing the currently recognized North American lizard families Crotaphytidae, Iguanidae, Phrynosomatidae, and Polychrotidae into a single family, Iguanidae.

US Blind Snakes Revised
Dixon, James R. & Kathryn Vaughan [2003 The Status of Mexican and Southwestern United States Blind Snakes Allied with Leptotyphlops dulcis (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Texas Journal of Science 55(1): 3-24], using external morphological data, recognized the subspecies Leptotyphlops dulcis dissectus as a distinct species, and resurrected the name L. dulcis rubellum Garman 1883, for populations in southern Texas and adjacent Tamaulipas and Coahuila, Mexico.

US Lyre Snakes Now 2 Species
LaDuc, Travis J. & Jerry D. Johnson. 2003. A Taxonomic Revision of Trimorphodon biscutatus vilkinsoni (Serpentes: Colubridae). Herpetologica 59(3): 364-374. The authors recognized this taxon as species distinct from T. biscutatus, and recommended a standard common name of Chihuahuan Desert Lyre Snake, to better reflect its range.