The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacan, Mexico Part 14

In Michoacan _Urosaurus bicarinatus tuberculatus_ is found in wooded areas, not in open scrub forest, in the coastal area to elevations of about 900 meters, and along the slopes of the Cordillera Volcanica and the southern edge of the Mexican Plateau at elevations from 1000 to 1700 meters. The record for Tupataro probably is erroneous, for no other specimens of this species are known from the central plateau.

Essentially, the distribution of this species parallels that of _Sceloporus utiformis_, a strictly terrestrial species. _Urosaurus bicarinatus tuberculatus_ lives on tree trunks. Below 1000 meters in the Tepalcatepec Valley _Urosaurus bicarinatus tuberculatus_ is replaced by _Urosaurus gadowi_.

~Urosaurus gadowi~ (Schmidt)

_Uta gadovi_ Schmidt, Amer. Mus. Novitates, 22:3, December 1, 1921.--Cofradia, Jalisco, Mexico (in error) = Cofradia, Michoacan, Mexico (Duellman, 1958b:49).

_Urosaurus gadowi_, Mittleman, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 91:154, September, 1942.

Acahuato (2); Apatzingan (56); 12-16 km. S of Apatzingan (12); Buenavista (7); Capirio (23); Cofradia (21); El Sabino (13); Guayabo; Jazmin; La Playa; La Salada (3); Nueva Italia (7); Rancho Nuevo; Rio Cancita, 14 km. E of Apatzingan (5); Rio Marquez, 10 km. S of Lombardia (2); Rio Marquez, 13 km.

SE of Nueva Italia (3); San Salvador (2); Santa Ana; Tepalcatepec; Volcan Jorullo (3); Zicuiran (2); Ziracuaretiro.

Although individuals of this species have been collected at elevations slightly exceeding 1200 meters on Volcan Jorullo and at 1100 meters at Ziracuaretiro on the southern slopes of the Cordillera Volcanica, for the most part these lizards are found at elevations of less than 800 meters, where they inhabit the open arid scrub forest of the Tepalcatepec Valley, a region to which this species is endemic (Duellman, 1958b:49). These small lizards usually are found on the trunks and main branches of the small trees in the scrub forest; in this habitat they are a.s.sociated with _Sceloporus horridus oligoporus_, a much larger species.

Males have a pale orange spot on the throat and a pale blue belly; females have immaculate venters.

A specimen from Guayabo on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Coalcoman was referred to _Urosaurus irregularis_ (Fischer) by Peters (1954:15). I have studied this specimen (BMNH 1914.1.28.110), a female having a snout-vent length of 46 mm., and agree with Peters that it closely resembles Fischer's description and figure (1882: pl. 17, fig.

1). This specimen and those seen of _Urosaurus gadowi_ all have pavementlike enlarged dorsal scales that are complete across the vertical line. In _U. gadowi_ the enlarged dorsals usually are in four to six irregular rows; in the specimen from Guayabo the dorsals are in two rows. Although none of the other specimens of _U. gadowi_ examined has only two rows of enlarged dorsals, I prefer to consider the specimen from Guayabo as an aberrant individual of that species, rather than _U.

irregularis_. Guayabo is in the known range of _U. gadowi_. _Urosaurus irregularis_ is known only from the type specimen in the Bremen Museum; the type locality, according to Fischer (1882:232), is "Aus dem Hochlande von Mexico." If an examination of the type specimen of _U.

irregularis_ shows it to be identical with _U. gadowi_, then _U.

irregularis_ would be the name for the lizards here referred to _U.

gadowi_.

~Mabuya brachypoda~ Taylor

_Mabuya brachypoda_ Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 38 (1):308, December 20, 1956.--Four kilometers east-southeast of Los Angeles de Tilaran, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

El Sabino (42); La Placita; Playa Azul; Tzitzio (3).

Previously this species has been reported from La Placita as _Mabuya mabouya alliacea_ by Peters (1954:15). Webb (1958:1311) provided evidence that Mexican specimens were conspecific with _Mabuya brachypoda_, as described from Costa Rica by Taylor (1956:308). The large series in the Taylor collection studied by Webb and listed by him as being from Uruapan actually is part of a series collected by Hobart M. Smith at El Sabino at an elevation of 1050 meters, 30 kilometers south of Uruapan.

This species probably ranges throughout the coastal region of the state; individuals from La Placita and Playa Azul were taken in dense scrub forest near sea level.

~Scincella a.s.sata taylori~ (Oliver)

_Leiolopisma a.s.satum taylori_ Oliver, Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool.

Univ. Michigan, 360:12, November 20, 1937.--Santiago, Colima, Mexico.

_Scincella a.s.sata taylori_, Mittleman, Herpetologica, 6:20, June 5, 1950.

Twenty-one km. S of Arteaga; Ostula.

The specimen from Ostula was obtained in semi-deciduous broad-leaf forest at an elevation of 120 meters; that from 21 kilometers south of Arteaga was taken in oak forest at an elevation of 830 meters. Both localities are on the coastal slopes of the Sierra de Coalcoman.

Probably the species inhabits the heavy forests on the lower slopes of these mountains. The specimen from south of Arteaga (UMMZ 119117) in life had a tan dorsum and a bright orange-pink tail.

~Eumeces altamirani~ Duges

_Eumeces altamirani_ Duges, La Naturaleza, ser. 2, 1:485, 1891.--Apatzingan, Michoacan, Mexico.

Twelve km. E of Apatzingan; El Sabino (4).

One specimen of this rare species was found beneath a rock in the open scrub forest 12 kilometers east of Apatzingan on July 3, 1955. Another skink, presumably of this species, was seen at Capirio. The specimen from east of Apatzingan is a male having a snout-vent length of 97 mm.

and an incomplete tail. In most respects it compares favorably with accounts of the species given by Taylor (1936b:55 and 1936c:102). The frontal is divided by a transverse suture; the enlarged dorsal scales are arranged in 11 pairs anteriorly, followed by 48 unpaired enlarged scales. The head and middorsal area are brown; there is a pale tan stripe on the edges of the vertebral and paravertebral rows, bordered by a dark brown stripe on the paravertebral row, which, in turn, is bordered by a pale tan stripe on the lateral edge of the paravertebral scale row and the median edge of the adjacent scale row. The stripes extend from the neck to the base of the tail. The flanks are mottled with brown and cream-color; the l.a.b.i.als are cream-color barred by brown; the venter is a pale cream-color.

Duges (1891:485) described _Eumeces altamirani_ from "las regiones calidas del Estado de Michoacan" and subsequently (1896:480) gave Apatzingan as a locality for the species. Presumably he had only one specimen. In 1935 Hobart M. Smith collected the species at El Sabino on the lower slopes of the Cordillera Volcanica bordering the Tepalcatepec Valley. All of the known specimens are from this valley and the adjacent slopes, an area to which the species apparently is endemic.

~Eumeces colimensis~ Taylor

_Eumeces colimensis_ Taylor, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., 20:77, May 15, 1935.--Colima, Colima, Mexico.

Coalcoman; Salitre de Estopila.

The species was reported by Peters (1954:16); no additional material has been discovered. The species is known only from foothills and low mountains at elevations between 130 and 950 meters in Michoacan and Colima.

~Eumeces copei~ Taylor

_Eumeces copei_ Taylor, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 46:133, June 5, 1933.--10 miles southeast of Asuncion, Mexico, Mexico. Cerro Tancitaro (3); Zacapu.

This member of the _Eumeces brevirostris_-group has been found only in pine or pine-fir forests at elevations from 1800 to 2700 meters. It probably ranges throughout the high mountains of the state north of the Tepalcatepec Valley; its apparent absence in other parts of the Cordillera Volcanica, other than on Cerro Tancitaro, is surprising. The species has been taken near Asuncion in the state of Mexico and at Lagunas de Zempoala in Morelos.

In this species the lateral pale yellow stripe, which is bordered below by dark brown, extends to the groin and onto the base of the tail. The dorsolateral stripe is separated from the copper-colored middorsum by a narrow brown stripe.

~Eumeces dugesi~ Thominot

_Eumeces Dugesii_ Thominot, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, ser.

7, 7:138, 1883.--Guanajuato. Type locality restricted to Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor (1950b:169).

Carapan (6); Cheran (5); Opopeo (2); 17 km. S of Patzcuaro (3); San Jose de la c.u.mbre (2); Tancitaro (2); Tangancicuaro; Uruapan; Zacapu.

Individuals of this species frequently have been found beneath rocks and logs in pine-oak, pine, or fir forests from elevations of 1550 to 1850 meters. To judge from specimens available, _E. dugesi_ probably is the most abundant and widespread species of skink in the state.

In this species the lateral yellow stripe is indistinct and is persistent only in the axilla; the dorsolateral stripes terminate anterior to the hind limbs and are not separated from the tan dorsum.

~Eumeces indubitus~ Taylor

_Eumeces indubitus_ Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 21:257, November 27, 1934.--Near Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

Puerto Hondo.

The one specimen of this species from Michoacan was collected by Edward H. Taylor in pine forest at Puerto Hondo, near Zitacuaro, at an elevation of about 2750 meters (Taylor, 1935:466). The species is known from the high mountains of eastern Michoacan, western Mexico, and northern Morelos.