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

40 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLS., MUS. NAT. HIST.
INTRODUCTION
The Mexican state of Sinaloa supports a varied biota that reflects
the intricate nature of the transition between the fluctuating temperate
environments of North America and the stable tropical
environments of Middle America. For more than 100 years biologists
have been interested in the amphibian and reptile fauna of
the region. Much recent attention has been due to increased accessibility
of a major portion of the state. Mexican Highway 15
and its numerous side roads now extend the entire length of the
coastal lowlands, facilitating work by herpetologists on zoogeographic
problems posed by the merger of the tropical and temperate
biotas. Consequently numerous collections have accumulated,
permitting the present report.
The lowlands of Sinaloa were visited first by collectors from
European museums early in the nineteenth century. The port of
Mazatlan served as a shipping point for specimens from Sinaloa
and other areas in northwestern Mexico. Early reports by Wagler
(1830) of specimens in the Munich Museum, by Gray (1831, 1855)
of specimens in the British Museum, by Weigmann (1834) and
Peters (1867) of specimens in the Berlin Museum, by Jan (1863)
of specimens in the Leipzig Museum, and by Fischer (1883) of
specimens in the Hamburg Museum, reflect the initiative of the
early collectors and naturalists, such as F. Deppe.
A collection made at Mazatlan by Ferdinand Bishoff and deposited
in the Smithsonian Institution was the subject of papers
by Cope (1864, 1868).
In the early 1880's a noteworthy collection was accumulated by
Alfonso Forrer from the vicinity of Mazatlan and Presidio, This
collection, which includes several type specimens, was sent to the
British Museum (Boulenger, 1882, 1883; Gunther, 1882, 1885-1902).
Evidently part of this collection also was sent to the United States
National Museum (Stejneger, 1893).
Collections from Mazatlan made by Gustav Eisen and Frank H.
Vaslit, and also by David Starr Jordan, that were deposited in the
California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum
at Stanford University, were the subject of reports by Van Denburgh
(1898) and McLain (1899).
During parts of 1897, 1898, and 1899, E. W. Nelson and Edward
A. Goldman traversed the entire west coast of Mexico from near
Guaymas, Sonora, southward to San Bias, Nayarit (Goldman, 1951).
Many specimens were secured by these men at Culiacan, Mazatlan,