The Amphibians and Reptiles of Sinaloa, Mexico - Smithsonian ...

AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF SINALOA, MEXICO 163
Ceophis dugesii Bocourt
Geophis dugesii Bocourt, Mission scientifique au M6xique et dans l'Amerique
centrale, Rept., livr. 9:573, 1883 (type locality, Tangancicuaro, Michaocan).
Remarks.—A female and a male have 154, 173 ventrals, and 38,
61 subcaudals. Both specimens have smooth scales in 15 rows,
lacking apical pits; supralabials, 6; infralabials, 6; temporals 0+1+2;
preoculars absent; postoculars, one; loreal, one; nasals divided;
rostral visible from above; anal plate entire; supralabials three and
four enter eye; mental does not contact chin shields; pupil round.
Both specimens are black with a white or pale yellow center in
each third or fourth dorsal scale, imparting a faintly speckled appearance.
Anteriorly, the speckles give the appearance of narrow
bands three to four scales apart. The chin, ventrals, and subcaudals
are white with the lateral edges of the ventrals black.
According to Floyd Downs (personal communication), who examined
these specimens, their allocation to Geophis dugesii should
be considered tentative.
Distribution in Sinaloa,—Southern highlands in lower montane
dry forest. See Fig. 65.
Specimens examined.—5 km. SW Palmito, 1880 m. ( a KU 75622); 19.2 km.
NE Santa Lucia, 1935 m. (»KU 78939).
Gyalopion quadrangularis (Giinther)
Ficimia quadrangularis Giinther, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Rept,, p, 99,
pi. 35, fig. A., 1893 (type locality, Presidio, Sinaloa).
Gyalopion quadrangularis: Smith and Taylor, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.,
31:359, August 15, 1941.
Remarks.—Taylor (1936a: 51) described Ficimia desertorum from
a single specimen and compared it to F. quadrangularis, then known
from a single specimen. When Smith and Taylor (1941:359) transferred
F. desertorum and F. quadrangularis to the genus Gyalopion,
the only specimens of each were the types. Bogert and Oliver
(1945:404) reported three specimens of G. desertorum from Sinaloa
that indicated individual variation in the size of the dark cross
bands. Duellman (1957b:238) confirmed differences in coloration
of the two nominal species, but suggested that they might be conspecific.
A total of 13 specimens (six were examined) from nine
localities in Sonora and Sinaloa, including a specimen of "intermediate"
coloration and pattern from El Dorado, led Dixon and
Fugler (1959:164) to regard desertorum as a subspecies of G. quadrangularis.
They separated the populations on the basis of differ-