The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacan, Mexico Part 28

Gadow (1905:213) inferred that _Phrynosoma orbiculare_ occurred at elevations of more than 3000 feet in Michoacan. There are no specimens of this species known from Gadow's collections made in Michoacan. Smith and Taylor (1950b:98) apparently accepted Gadow's statement and recorded the species from Michoacan: "above 3000 feet (Jorullo?)." Reeve (1952:940) somehow misconstrued this statement to read "Jorullo, above Zumpango (Smith and Taylor, 1950b)." Reeve did not indicate on his map (1952:939) that the species occurred in Michoacan. In the most recent review of the species (Horowitz, 1955), no localities are given in Michoacan. Since _Phrynosoma orbiculare_ is known from central Jalisco, Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Mexico, its presence at least in northeastern Michoacan is to be expected, although at the present time there are no specimens known from the state.

~Eumeces brevirostris~ (Gunther)

_Mabouia brevirostris_ Gunther, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p.

316, August, 1860.--Oaxaca. Type locality restricted to Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor (1950b:168).

_Eumeces brevirostris_, Bocourt, Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amerique Centrale. Reptiles, livr. 6, p.

439, 1879.

Smith and Taylor (1950b:168) Listed this species: "_Michoacan_: No specific record." I am unaware of any specimen of this skink from the state. As presently recognized, this species contains two subspecies.

One of these occurs in the mountains of Oaxaca northward into central Veracruz; the other, _Eumeces brevirostris bilineatus_, occurs in Durango southward to Jalisco, where it inhabits the Sierra Madre Occidental. Possibly the species occurs in the Sierra de los Tarascos in Michoacan.

~Eumeces callicephalus~ Bocourt

_Eumeces callacephalus_ Bocourt, Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amerique Centrale. Reptiles, livr. 6, p.

431, 1879.--Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Duges (1896) in a paper in which he listed several species of _Eumeces_ in Mexico, reported _Eumeces callicephalus_ from Michoacan, but he gave no specific locality within the state. Michoacan was included in the range of the species by Taylor (1936:298) and by Smith and Taylor (1950b:164). The species definitely is known from southeastern Arizona southward to Guanajuato. It may occur in Michoacan, but, since there are three rather widespread species of _Eumeces_ inhabiting the Mexican Plateau and a.s.sociated mountain ranges in the northern and northeastern part of Michoacan, interspecific compet.i.tion might be a reason for the absence of _Eumeces callicephalus_ there.

~Leptodeira septentrionalis polysticta~ Gunther

_Leptodeira polysticta_ Gunther, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Reptilia, p. 172, May, 1895.--Belice, British Honduras.

_Leptodeira septentrionalis polysticta_, Duellman, Bull.

Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 114:72, February 24, 1958.

Although this species occurs from sea level to elevations of about 2000 meters from Nayarit southward into Central America, no specimens are known from Michoacan. Smith and Taylor (1945:87) listed the species as occurring in Michoacan, but they had no record on which to base this report. Probably, the species occurs on the coastal lowlands and seaward slopes of the Sierra de Coalcoman.

~Tropidodipsas fasciata guerreroensis~ Taylor

_Tropidodipsas guerreroensis_ Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci.

Bull., 26:470; November 27, 1940.--Buena Vista, Guerrero, Mexico.

_Tropidodipsas fasciata guerreroensis_, Alvarez del Toro and Smith, Herpetologica, 12:16, March 6, 1956.

Duges (1896:480) reported a snake, questionably of this species, from Uruapan, Michoacan. Taylor (1940c) suggested that on geographic grounds Duges' record might refer to _T. f. guerreroensis_, which is known definitely only from the type locality. _Tropidodipsas occidentala_ is known from Comala, Colima, and Coalcoman, Michoacan. On zoogeopraphic grounds that species might be found at Uruapan. Since the specimen apparently no longer is extant, the identification cannot be ascertained.

~Micrurus fitzingeri fitzingeri~ (Jan)

_Elaps fitzingeri_ Jan, Rev. Mag. Zool., p. 521, 1858.--Mexico. Type locality restricted to Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor (1950a:330).

_Micrurus fitzingeri fitzingeri_, Brown and Smith, Proc.

Biol. Soc. Was.h.i.+ngton, 55:63, June 25, 1942.

Smith and Taylor (1945:174) recorded the species from Zamora, Michoacan.

Hobart M. Smith (_in litt._) stated that this record was based on a report of _Elaps fulvius_ from Zamora by Duges (1896:482). Smith guessed that the report was based on a specimen of _Micrurus fitzingeri_. The specimen has not been seen. Although the species is known from Guanajuato and Mexico, until a specimen is available from Michoacan, the species should not be considered part of the herpetofauna of Michoacan.

GAZETTEER

The localities in Michoacan here listed are those from which specimens were examined as well as other localities mentioned in the text. The localities are arranged alphabetically according to the most definitive word or words in the total name. For example, Lago de Chapala is listed as "Chapala (Lago de)" and Cerro de Tancitaro is listed as "Tancitaro (Cerro de)." Insofar as has been possible, the following information is given for each locality: geographical co-ordinates to the nearest minute of north lat.i.tude and west longitude, elevation in meters above mean sea level, a description of its geographical location, type of dominant vegetation, and in some cases comments concerning collecting sites in the vicinity. Distances are in kilometers; all are map (air line) distances, unless otherwise indicated. Many localities visited on mule trips are given as being a certain number of "mule hours" in a general direction from another town or village. In order to reach most of these localities today, one would have to go by mule, and this is the way the muleteers determine their distances. Some of the elevations are taken from maps, but most of them were obtained from one or more readings of altimeters that we carried in the field. The terms used for describing the vegetation are those defined in the section of the natural landscape.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11. Map of Michoacan showing important localities mentioned in text. Localities not on this map can be located by directions given in the gazetteer.]

My primary cartographic sources have been: the provisional edition of maps published by the American Geographic Society (Colima, Guadalajara, Mexico, and San Luis Potosi sheets published between 1933 and 1940), scale 1:1,000,000; the preliminary sheets (Colima, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, and Mexico) published in 1949 with a scale of 1:500,000 of the Carta Geografica de la Republica Mexicana (Direccion de Geografia y Meterologia, Secretaria de Agricultura y Ganaderia); and the Carta de Cuenca Tepalcatepec (Scale 1:250,000) prepared in 1958 by the Comision del Tepalcatepec, Secretaria de Recursos Hidraulicos. I have visited most of the 181 localities and have gathered data pertaining to vegetation, alt.i.tude, and location. I think, nevertheless, that the accuracy of some of the locations and elevations as given in the gazetteer is questionable. This situation can be rectified only by detailed geographic studies.

Most of the important towns, villages, rivers, and high mountains are shown on the accompanying map (Fig. 11). Places not shown on this map can be located from directions given in the gazetteer.

Acahuata.--Lat. 19 10', long. 102 21', elev. 1040 m. A village north of Apatzingan and on the southern slope of Cerro de Tancitaro; transition between arid tropical scrub forest and pine-oak forest; tropical semi-deciduous forest in barrancas.

Agua Cerca.--Lat. 19 06', long. 101 45', elev. 1550 m. A ranch south-southwest of Ario de Rosales on the road to La Huacana; pine-oak forest.

Aguililla.--Lat. 18 45', long. 102 47', elev. 860 m.; a town in a low valley in the Sierra de Coalcoman; arid tropical scrub forest.

alamo (El).--Lat. 19 42', long. 100 55', elev. 2300 m. A ranch 5 kilometers by road east of El Temazcal; pine-oak forest.

Angahuan.--Lat. 19 33', long. 102 14', elev. 2440 m. A Tarascan village about 27 kilometers northwest of Uruapan; pine forest. Much of the land is still covered by a deep layer of ashes from the nearby Volcan Paricutin.

Apatzingan.--Lat. 19 06', long. 102 22', elev. 335 m. The largest town in the Tepalcatepec Valley; arid tropical scrub forest.

Apiza (Boca de).--Lat. 18 42', long. 103 44', sea level.

The name of the mouth of the Rio Coahuayana; sandy beach and coco palms.

Apo.--Lat. 19 25', long. 102 25', elev. 2160 m. A village on the western slope of Cerro de Tancitaro; pine-oak forest.

Aquila.--Lat. 18 32', long. 103 30', elev. 150 m. A small village on the Rio Aquila in the seaward foothills of the Sierra de Coalcoman; tropical semi-deciduous forest.

Araparicuaro.--Lat. 19 22', long. 102 12', elev. 1525 m. A village 19 kilometers west-southwest of Uruapan on the trail to Tancitaro; pine-oak forest.

Araro.--Lat. 19 54', long. 100 50', elev. 1830 m. A small village at the eastern end of the Lago de Cuitzeo lakebed; mesquite-gra.s.sland.

Ario de Rosales.--Lat. 19 12', long. 101 42', elev. 1980 m. A town in the Cordillera Volcanica on the road from Patzcuaro to La Huacana; mixed hardwoods and pine forest.

Arteaga (formerly Carrizal).--Lat. 18 28', long. 102 25', elev. 850 m. A town in the eastern part of the Sierra de Coalcoman; transition between arid tropical scrub forest and oak forest.

Atzimba.--Lat. 19 39', long. 100 47', elev. 2900 m. A national park in the Cordillera Volcanica, located between Ciudad Hidalgo and Morelia, 32 kilometers by road west-southwest of Ciudad Hidalgo; mixed pine and fir forest.

Axolotl (Rancho).--Lat. 19 47', long. 100 38', elev. 2900 m. A settlement on the western slopes of Cerro San Andres; pine, oak, and fir forest.

Balsas (Rio).--A large river having its headwaters in Tlaxcala, Puebla, and northwestern Oaxaca, flowing westward through an arid valley to the Pacific Ocean, and in its lower part forming the boundary between Michoacan and Guerrero.