The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, Pituophis deppei, by William E. Duellman This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, Pituophis deppei Author: William E. Duellman Release Date: March 9, 2010 [EBook #31570] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIDDLE AMERICAN SNAKE *** Produced by Chris Curnow, Simon Gardner, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Notes Italic typeface is indicated by _underscores_. Bold typeface is indicated by =equals=. In this ASCII text version accented characters are shown as follows: acute accent on a, e, i, o, u, E is marked ['a], ['e], ['i], ['o], ['u], ['E]; umlaut on u, U is marked [:u], [:U]; tilde on n is marked [~n]. The following corrections only have been made to the text: "Rijkmuseum van Natuurlijke Histoire" changed to "Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie" (Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden) Period changed to comma (Erp['e]tologie g['e]n['e]rale, vol. 7, p. 268) "Chipas" changed to "Chiapas" (Guatemalan highlands and probably highlands of Chiapas.) The style of the majority of citations in this paper are of the form "(year: page)". A small number of citations have been ammended to add the space following the colon. * * * * * UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Vol. 10, No. 10, pp. 599-610, 1 pl., 1 fig. May 2, 1960 A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, Pituophis deppei BY WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1960 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, Robert W. Wilson Volume 10, No. 10, pp. 599-610, 1 pl., 1 fig. Published May 2, 1960 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED IN THE STATE PRINTING PLANT TOPEKA, KANSAS 1960 28-2493 PLATE 45 [Illustration: FIG. 1. _Pituophis deppei deppei_ from Cumbres de Acultzingo, Veracruz, UMMZ 114596. Approx. 1/2 natural size.] [Illustration: FIG. 2. _Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis_ from Dos Aguas, Michoac['a]n, UMMZ 119567. Approx. 1/3 natural size.] A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, Pituophis deppei BY WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN INTRODUCTION As a part of a study of the herpetofauna of the Mexican state of Michoac['a]n an attempt was made to ascertain the interspecific and intraspecific relationships of the various populations of _Pituophis_ there. Field work in Michoac['a]n revealed that two supposed subspecies of _Pituophis deppei_ were sympatric. This discovery led to the examination of all available (124) museum specimens of these snakes. I am grateful to the following persons who permitted me to examine specimens in their care: Charles M. Bogert, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); Doris M. Cochran, United States National Museum (USNM); Norman Hartweg, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ); Robert F. Inger, Chicago Natural History Museum (CNHM); Arthur Loveridge, Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ); Hobart M. Smith, University of Illinois Museum of Natural History (UIMNH); and Edward H. Taylor, E. H. Taylor--H. M. Smith collection (EHT-HMS). Specimens in the accounts of the species are listed after the abbreviations of the institutions given in parentheses above. HISTORICAL REVIEW Dum['e]ril (1853: 453) described _Elaphis deppei_ from a specimen in the Leiden Museum from "Mexico." This specimen, according to the type description, has 233 ventrals and 67 caudals. In 1863 Jan described _Pituophis deppei_ var. _pholidostictus_, also with "Mexico" as the type locality. Subsequent authors (see synonymy of _P. deppei deppei_ in Stull, 1940: 25) have treated _pholidostictus_ as a synonym of _deppei_. Smith and Taylor (1950: 334) restricted the type localities of _deppei_ and _pholidostictus_ to San Juan Teotihuac['a]n, M['e]xico. Cope (1860: 369) described _Arizona jani_ on the basis of a specimen in the United States National Museum from Buena Vista, Coahuila. Stull (1932: 2, 1940: 42), Smith (1944: 145) and Smith and Taylor (1945: 107) considered _jani_ as a northern subspecies of _Pituophis deppei_. _Arizona lineaticollis_ was described by Cope (1861: 300); the type, which originally was in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and is now lost, was said to have come from Jalapa, Veracruz. This locality probably is in error. Smith (1943: 460) placed _lineaticollis_ as a southern subspecies of _deppei_. Schmidt and Shannon (1947: 79) described _Pituophis deppei brevilineata_ on the basis of five specimens from Tanc['i]taro, Michoac['a]n, and Stuart (1954: 172) described _Pituophis deppei gibsoni_ from seven specimens from Departamento Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Thus, at present five subspecies of _Pituophis deppei_ are recognized. CHARACTERS STUDIED Snakes currently assigned to _Pituophis deppei_ differ from other members of the genus by possessing two instead of four prefrontal plates. The subspecies of _P. deppei_ have been defined on characters of coloration and scutellation. _Scutellation._--The only scale characters utilized in the present study are the numbers of ventrals and caudals. The number of ventrals varies in the total sample from 210 to 246 (Table 1); usually the variation in one locality is no more than 15. Number of caudals varies from 52 to 72. There is slight sexual dimorphism in the number of ventrals and somewhat greater differences in the number of caudals. TABLE 1.--Variation in the Numbers of Ventrals and Caudals in Four Subspecies of Pituophis. ==============================+====================+================== SUBSPECIES | Ventrals | Caudals +---------+---------+---------+--------- | Range | Mean | Range | Mean ------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- _deppei deppei_ | | | | 34 [M] [M] | 210-231 | 220.4 | 53-69 | 61.5 16 [F] [F] | 209-232 | 218.2 | 52-61 | 57.2 | | | | _deppei jani_ | | | | 12 [M] [M] | 215-235 | 225.1 | 56-68 | 62.6 3 [F] [F] | 228-231 | 229.0 | 52-60 | 56.0 | | | | _lineaticollis lineaticollis_ | | | | 13 [M] [M] | 231-258 | 239.5 | 54-72 | 64.9 9 [F] [F] | 229-249 | 241.3 | 55-68 | 60.6 | | | | _lineaticollis gibsoni_ | | | | 2 [M] [M] | 234 | 234.0 | 61-65 | 63.0 4 [F] [F] | 241-246 | 243.7 | 57-63 | 59.0 ------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+--------- _Coloration._--The dorsal ground color is tan or straw; the dorsal pattern consists basically of dark middorsal blotches and dark lateral intercalary spots. Number of blotches, color of blotches posteriorly, width of pale interspaces between anterior blotches, and color of lateral intercalary spots vary considerably geographically. In some populations (_lineaticollis_ and _gibsoni_) the anterior blotches are divided medially forming either a pair of dark stripes on the anterior part of the body or a series of paired spots. Details of coloration are described in the following accounts. ACCOUNTS OF THE SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES [Illustration: FIG. 1. M['e]xico and Guatemala showing the distribution of the subspecies of _Pituophis deppei_ and _P. lineaticollis_.] Study of _Pituophis deppei_ (_auctorum_) revealed the presence of sympatric populations of two distinct species of _Pituophis_ differing from each other in scutellation and coloration. The nomenclature resulting from the required rearrangement necessitates the recognition of 1) _deppei_ as a species, 2) _jani_ as a subspecies of _deppei_, 3) _lineaticollis_ (with _brevilineata_ as a synonym) as a species distinct from _deppei_, and 4) _gibsoni_ as a subspecies of _lineaticollis_. Known geographic distributions of these named taxa are shown in Figure 1. =Pituophis deppei deppei= Dum['e]ril _Elaphis deppei_ Dum['e]ril, Mem. Acad. Inst. France, vol. 23, p. 453, 1853; Dum['e]ril and Bibron, Erp['e]tologie g['e]n['e]rale, vol. 7, p. 268, February 25, 1854. _Pituophis deppei_, Jan, Elenco sistematico degli ofidi, p. 59, 1863; G[:u]nther, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Reptilia, p. 124, February, 1894. _Elaphis pleurostictus_ Dum['e]ril, Mem. Acad. Inst. France, vol. 23, p. 453, 1853 [Type.--Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Paris, No. 6616; type locality--"Monte Video" (restricted to San Juan Teotihuac['a]n, M['e]xico, by Smith and Taylor, 1950: 334)]. _Pituophis pleurostictus_, Jan, Elenco sistematico degli ofidi, p. 59, 1863. _Pituophis deppei_, var. _pholidostictus_ Jan, Elenco sistematico degli ofidi, p. 59, 1863 [Type.--Zoologisches Museum Berlin, No. 1738; type locality.--"Mexico" (restricted to San Juan Teotihuac['a]n, M['e]xico, by Smith and Taylor, 1950: 334)]. _Pituophis deppei deppei_, Stull, Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, no. 250, p. 1, October 12, 1932; Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus. 175, p. 25, April 23, 1940; Smith and Taylor, U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 187, p. 107, 1945. _Type._--Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, No. ???, obtained by Ferdinand Deppe. The type locality was originally given as "Mexico"; this was restricted to San Juan Teotihuac['a]n, state of M['e]xico, by Smith and Taylor (1950: 334). _Diagnosis._--This subspecies is characterized by the presence of solid body-blotches and lateral intercalary spots, dorsal interspaces less than five scales in length, and the absence of paired stripes or rows of blotches, on the anterior part of the body. There are 209 to 232 ventrals and 52 to 62 caudals. The body-blotches number 27 to 49. In adults the anterior and posterior body-blotches are black; the lateral intercalary spots are solid black. In many individuals black dashes connect the adjacent corners of the dorsal body-blotches (Pl. 45, Fig. 1). In juveniles the anterior, dorsal body-blotches are black, whereas those at the midbody and posteriorly are brown. _Variation._--Geographically, scutellation varies only slightly. Comparison of specimens from the northern part of the Mexican Plateau (Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango--5 specimens), the central part of the plateau (Aguascalientes, San Luis Potos['i], and Zacatecas--13 specimens), the southern part of the plateau (Guanajuato, Jalisco, M['e]xico, and Michoac['a]n--18 specimens), and Puebla and southern Veracruz (12 specimens) shows the average number of ventrals for these samples to be, respectively, 221.6, 216.7, 221.3, and 220.0. The average number of dorsal body-blotches for the same samples are, respectively, 36.6, 37.7, 38.4, and 34.6. Only in the southernmost sample is there a noticeable difference in the number of blotches. The specimen from P['a]rajo Verde, Veracruz, was considered to be an intergrade between _P. deppei_ and _P. lineaticollis_ by Smith (1943: 461), who stated that, although the snake had 231 ventrals and dark lateral streaks as does _deppei_, it had light-centered dorsal blotches and stripes on the neck as does _lineaticollis_. This specimen (USNM 110892) has a high number of ventrals for _deppei_; one from Jalisco has 232, and one each from Guanajuato and Veracruz have 229. The blotches posteriorly are lighter than those anteriorly and are slightly lighter in the center than at the periphery. Two anterior blotches are divided medially and narrowly connected by black streaks. Although these are somewhat suggestive of the pattern of _lineaticollis_, they are more nearly like that of _deppei_. Four other specimens from the same area are typically _deppei_. There is some doubt as to the actual provenance of the snake stated to have come from P['a]rajo Verde, for, according to Smith (1943: 460), the snake had been tied to a truck and dragged halfway down the slopes of the Cumbres de Acultzingo, where he found it. He surmised that it probably was dragged no farther than the settlement, P['a]rajo Verde, at the Cumbres de Acultzingo. Fugler and Webb (1956: 171) commented on the uniformly brown dorsum of a specimen (KU 39564) from 16 miles east and 18 miles north of Ocampo, Coahuila. It has a higher number of ventrals (242) and caudals (88) than is known for deppei. It is, without a doubt, a _Pituophis_. It is not _Pituophis catenifer_, as attested to by the presence of only two prefrontals. The high number of ventrals and caudals, together with the uniform dark brown dorsum, provide a combination of characters indicating that this specimen may represent an undescribed species in the _deppei_ group of _Pituophis_. _Distribution._--Southern Chihuahua and southern Coahuila southward on the western and central parts of the Mexican Plateau to the Valley of M['e]xico and to southeastern Puebla and adjacent Veracruz. _Specimens examined._--Total of 63, as follows: _Aguascalientes_: 16 km. N of Aguascalientes, UIMNH 27149; 17 km. E of Aguascalientes, UIMNH 36222; 5 km. SW of Aguascalientes, KU 29495; Cavillito, UIMNH 28134; 11 km. N of Rincon de Romos, UIMNH 40359-60; 2 km. N of San Francisco de los Romos, UIMNH 27569. _Chihuahua_: USNM 8321 (2 specimens); Semachique, CNHM 11825. _Coahuila_: Castanuelas, MCZ 407. _Distrito Federal_: Lago Xochimilco, UIMNH 18709; Pedregal, UMMZ 99790. _Durango_: Coyotes, CNHM 1497; Hacienda Magdalena, USNM 46365; Llano Grande, UMMZ 113634. _Guanajuato_: USNM 16442; Acambaro, KU 45003; Irapuato, UIMNH 35055. _Jalisco_: Atemajac, USNM 46385; Guadalajara, USNM 24969; 5 km. SE of Guadalajara, KU 29508; Jamay, AMNH 19848-9, 19851-2; 3 km. WNW of Lagos de Moreno, KU 27727; 5 km. NW of Sayula, UMMZ 101933. _M['e]xico_: Atzocozlco, AMNH 19850; Chalco, USNM 110889; San Juan Teotihuac['a]n, EHT-HMS 5378, 5383, MCZ 16051. _Michoac['a]n_: 6 km. E of Carapan, AMNH 69940; 3 km. W of Carapan, UMMZ 114598; 14 km. W of Morelia, UMMZ 104969; Tacambaro, USNM 46557; Tac['i]cuaro, USNM 110888; 11 km. W of Zacapu, UMMZ 104968. _Puebla_: Alseseca, UIMNH 36221; Atlixco, USNM 46433; Puebla, AMNH 19856; 30 km. N of Puebla, USNM 110887; Tecamachalco, UMMZ 88688; 16 km. SSE of Tecamachalco, UMMZ 114597; Tehuacan, UMMZ 88687; 22 km. N of Tehuacan, EHT-HMS 5377. _San Luis Potos['i]_: USNM 46554; 26 km. SW of San Luis Potos['i], UIMNH 28133. _Veracruz_: 3 km. W of Acultzingo, KU 23978; Cumbres de Acultzingo, UIMNH 36224, 36226, UMMZ 114596; P['a]rajo Verde, USNM 110892; questionably from Potrero Viejo, UMMZ 89358-9. _Zacatecas_: 16 km. E of Somberete, UIMNH 27147; 1 km. SW of Tiburcio, KU 33599; 3 km. ESE of Troncoso, KU 29494; 10 km. W of Villa de Arriaga (San Luis Potos['i]), UIMNH 27151; 24 km. NW of Zacatecas, UIMNH 6393; 13 km. SE of Zacatecas, UIMNH 27148; 26 km. SE of Zacatecas, UIMNH 27568. =Pituophis deppei jani= Cope _Arizona jani_ Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 369, 1860. _Pituophis deppei jani_, Stull, Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, no. 250, p. 2, October 12, 1932, Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 175, p. 42, April 23, 1940; Smith, Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 29, p. 145, February 29, 1944; Smith and Taylor, Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 187, p. 107, 1940. _Type._--United States National Museum, No. 1522, from Buena Vista, Coahuila, obtained by Lieutenant Darius N. Couch. _Diagnosis._--This subspecies is characterized by solid body-blotches that are black anteriorly and brown posteriorly, anterior dorsal interspaces six or more scales in length, and the absence of dark stripes or rows of spots on the anterior part of the body. There are 215 to 235 ventrals, 52 to 68 caudals, and 21 to 31 dorsal body-blotches. The position of the lateral intercalary spots and lateral streaks are the same as in _deppei deppei_. _Variation._--Throughout the range of this subspecies the posterior body-blotches are brown and noticeably lighter than the anterior ones. Juveniles are colored like adults. Specimens from the northern part of the range (Nuevo Le['o]n and Tamaulipas) have 21 to 28 (average 24.0) dorsal body-blotches and 7 to 11 (average 8.9) scales in the interspace between the first and second dorsal body-blotches, as compared with specimens from the southern part of the range (Hidalgo, Queretaro, and San Luis Potos['i]), which have 24 to 31 (average 27.7) dorsal body-blotches and 6 to 10 (average 7.8) scales in the first interspace. Likewise, there is a difference in the number of ventrals between the northern and southern samples; those from the north have an average of 228.8 ventrals, and those from the south have 222.0. In all of these characters the southern sample shows trends towards the southern subspecies, _deppei_, which has fewer ventrals, fewer scales in the first interspace, and more dorsal body-blotches. _Distribution._--Eastern part of the Mexican Plateau and lower leeward slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental from Hidalgo and Queretaro northward to southeastern Coahuila. _Specimens examined._--Total of 28, as follows: _Coahuila_: Buena Vista, USNM 1522; 50 km. W of La Rosa, EHT-HMS 5374. _Hidalgo_: Ixmiquilpan, USNM 110890-1; 24 km. S of Ixmiquilpan, EHT-HMS 5373; Jacala, UMMZ 80937; 35 km. E of Pachuca, UMMZ 99552; 16 km. E of Tulancingo, KU 40357. _Nuevo Le['o]n_: Ojo de Agua near Galeana, CNHM 33564-5. _Queretaro_: Cadereyta, UMMZ 99791-3. _San Luis Potos['i]_: Charcas, UMMZ 77256-8; San Diego, UMMZ 77254-5; 24 km. NE of San Luis Potos['i], UIMNH 18711; 30 km. NE of San Luis Potos['i], UIMNH 27150, 28135. _Tamaulipas_: Miquihuana, MCZ 19544-50. =Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis= Cope, new combination _Arizona lineaticollis_ Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 300, 1861. _Pituophis lineaticollis_, Stull, Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, no. 250, p. 2, October 12, 1932, Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 175, p. 47, April 23, 1940. _Pituophis deppei lineaticollis_, Smith, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus., vol. 93, p. 460, 1943; Smith and Taylor, Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 187, p. 108, 1945. _Pituophis deppei brevilineata_ Schmidt and Shannon, Fieldiana-Zool., vol. 31, p. 79, February 20, 1947. _Type._--No type specimen is known. Cope (1861: 300 and 1887: 72) stated that the specimen was from the southern Mexican Plateau and that it was collected by Carlos Sartorius. Smith and Taylor (1945: 108 and 1950: 348) gave the type locality as Jalapa, Veracruz. Although this locality was the source of many specimens sent to the United States by Sartorius, it is not within the known range of _lineaticollis_, and therefore cannot appropriately be thought of as the type locality. In the absence of a type specimen and a justifiable type locality, I hereby designate as a neotype, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, No. 114668. This specimen was collected 24 kilometers northwest of Ciudad Oaxaca, Oaxaca, on February 29, 1956, by William E. Duellman. It is an adult female having 229 ventrals, 67 caudals, and long black neck-stripes followed posteriorly by 23 light-centered dorsal body-blotches. _Diagnosis._--This subspecies is characterized by the presence of continuous dark paravertebral stripes on the anterior part of the body, and light-centered dorsal body-blotches and lateral intercalary spots (Pl. 45, Fig. 2). There are 229 to 258 ventrals, 54 to 72 caudals, and 23 to 45 dorsal body-blotches posterior to the neck-stripes. The young are colored like the adults. _Variation._--Specimens from the southern part of the range in Oaxaca have 229 to 245 ventrals (average 238.3); to the north on the Mexican Plateau in the state of Michoac['a]n seven specimens have 231 to 243 (average 237.1) ventrals. In the relatively isolated mountain ranges of the Sierra del Sur in Guerrero and the Sierra de Coalcom['a]n in southern Michoac['a]n the ranges of variation and average numbers of ventrals are, respectively, 234 to 258 (245.8) and 236 to 246 (242.2). The longest neck-stripes are found in specimens from Oaxaca and Guerrero; nevertheless, some specimens from the Mexican Plateau in Michoac['a]n and three of the four specimens from the Sierra de Coalcom['a]n have neck-stripes equally long. One specimen from 40 kilometers north of Ciudad M['e]xico and several from the vicinity of Tanc['i]taro, Michoac['a]n, have rather shorter neck-stripes. One specimen from Dos Aguas, Michoac['a]n, has the neck-stripes partially fragmented into rows of spots as in _gibsoni_. On the basis of specimens from Tanc['i]taro, Michoac['a]n, Schmidt and Shannon (1947: 79) described the subspecies _brevilineata_, which they diagnosed as differing from _lineaticollis_ in having fewer ventrals and shorter neck-stripes. The present data suggest that the characters used to diagnose the subspecies are variable not only in Michoac['a]n, but throughout the range of the species. Consequently, _Pituophis (deppei) brevilineata_ Schmidt and Shannon (1947) is placed in the synonymy of _Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis_ Cope (1861). _Distribution._--The southern part of the Mexican Plateau in the states of Michoac['a]n, M['e]xico, and Morelos, the Sierra de Coalcom['a]n in southern Michoac['a]n, and the Sierra del Sur in Guerrero and Oaxaca. _Specimens examined._--Total of 25, as follows: _Guerrero_: Acahuizotla, USNM 46537; Chilpancingo, CNHM 38356-9, UIMNH 35000, UMMZ 85724-5; Omiltemi, USNM 46462. _M['e]xico_: 40 km. N of Ciudad M['e]xico, UIMNH 36223. _Michoac['a]n_: Acuaro de las Lleguas, UMMZ 112565; Dos Aguas, UMMZ 118786, 119567-8; 40 km. E of Morelia, UMMZ 101932; Tanc['i]taro, CNHM 37126, 39069-72. _Morelos_: 1 km. W of Tepoztl['a]n, UMMZ 101931; Tres Cumbres, UIMNH 35001. _Oaxaca_: 25 km. N of El Soledad, UIMNH 6210; 24 km. NW of Oaxaca, UMMZ 114668; San Pedro Quiechapa, USNM 110893. =Pituophis lineaticollis gibsoni= Stuart, new combination _Pituophis deppei gibsoni_ Stuart, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 67, p. 172, August 5, 1954. _Type._--University of Michigan Museum of Zoology No. 107060, obtained by Colvin Gibson. Type locality: Yepocapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. _Diagnosis._--This race is characterized by paired, elongated, pale-centered, paravertebral spots on the anterior part of the body. Posterior to the paired spots are 22 to 27 dorsal body-blotches; these and the lateral intercalary spots have pale centers. There are 234 to 246 ventrals and 57 to 65 caudals. _Variation._--The few specimens that are available from a small geographic area do not permit a discussion of geographic variation at this time. All of the specimens have the paired paravertebral spots and blotches with light centers. In this respect the population of _lineaticollis_ east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is noticeably different from the nominal subspecies in the Mexican highlands. Smith and Taylor (1945: 108) listed a specimen from San Cristobal, Chiapas. I have not seen this specimen and so do not know to which subspecies it belongs. On geographical grounds it probably is _gibsoni_. _Distribution._--Guatemalan highlands and probably highlands of Chiapas. Aside from the specimens examined, two others are known--one from Volc['a]n Agua, Sacatepequez (Slevin, 1939: 400), and one from Due[~n]as, Sacatepequez (Boulenger, 1894: 65); these localities are not shown in figure 1. _Specimens examined._--Eight, as follows: Guatemala: _Chimaltenango_: Chichavac, CNHM 1927; Finca El Tesoro, 3 km. SE of Acatenango, UMMZ 107062-3; Finca Recreo, 4.5 km. SW of Yepocapa, UMMZ 107381; R['i]o Los Positos, 5.5 km. NE of Yepocapa, UMMZ 107061; R['i]o Sobolopop, 8 km. W of Patz['u]n, UMMZ 107064; Yepocapa, UMMZ 107060. _El Quiche_: Nebaj, UMMZ 89202. LITERATURE CITED BOULENGER, G. A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). London, 2:xi + 382 pp., pls. 1-20. COPE, E. D. 1860. Descriptions of reptiles from tropical America and Asia. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1860:368-374. 1861. Contributions to the ophiology of Lower California, Mexico, and Central America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1861:292-306. 1887. Catalogue of the batrachians and reptiles of Central America and Mexico. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., 32: 1-98. DUM['E]RIL, A. M. C. 1853. Prodrome g['e]n['e]ral de la classification des serpents. Mem. Acad. Sci. Inst. France, 23:399-536, 2 pls. DUM['E]RIL, A. M. C., and BIBRON, G. 1854. Erp['e]tologie g['e]n['e]rale, ou histoire naturelle des reptiles. Paris, 7 (pt. 1): xvi + 780 pp. FUGLER, C. M., and WEBB, R. G. 1956. Distributional notes on some reptiles and amphibians from southern and central Coahuila. Herpetologica, 12:167-171. G[:U]NTHER, A. 1885-1902. Biologia Centrali-Americana. Reptilia and Batrachia. London, xx + 326 pp., pls. 1-76. JAN, G. 1863. Elenco sistematico degli ofidi. Milan, 143 pp. SCHMIDT, K. P., and SHANNON, F. A. 1947. Notes on amphibians and reptiles of Michoacan, Mexico. Fieldiana-Zool., 31 (9):63-85. SLEVIN, J. R. 1939. Notes on a collection of reptiles and amphibians from Guatemala. I. Snakes. Proc. California Acad. Sci., 4th, ser., 23 (26):393-414, pls. 37-38. SMITH, H. M. 1943. Summary of the collections of snakes and crocodilians made in Mexico under the Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship. Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus., 93:393-504. 1944. Snakes of the Hoogstraal Expeditions to northern Mexico. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., 29 (8):135-152. SMITH, H. M., and TAYLOR, E. H. 1945. An annotated checklist and key to the snakes of Mexico. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., 187: iv + 239 pp. 1950. Type localities of Mexican reptiles and amphibians. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 33 (8):313-380. STUART, L. C. 1954. Descriptions of some new amphibians and reptiles from Guatemala. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 67:159-178. STULL, O. G. 1932. An annotated list of the forms of the genus _Pituophis_. Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 250:1-5. 1940. Variations and relationships in the snakes of the genus _Pituophis_. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., 175:vi + 225 pp. _Transmitted February 2, 1960._ 28-2493 End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Taxonomic Study of the Middle American Snake, Pituophis deppei, by William E. 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