The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacán, MéxicoDuellman, William Edward
Science
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacán, México
Duellman, William Edward
Amphibians -- Mexico -- Michoacán de Ocampo; Reptiles -- Mexico -- Michoacán de Ocampo
This strictly arboreal lizard is abundant in the mixed broad-leafed
forest near Uruapan. The lizards are exceedingly wary and can be
approached only with difficulty. In life males have pale blue bellies;
the throat is pale pink. The pale gray dorsum marked with irregular
darker gray blotches blends well with the color of the tree trunks on
which the lizard lives. The one specimen from Dos Aguas was found on a
pine tree; it provides the only record for the species from the Sierra
de Coalcomán.
~Sceloporus bulleri~ Boulenger
_Sceloporus bulleri_ Boulenger, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1894:729, April, 1895.--Las Cumbre de los Arrastrados,
Jalisco, México.
Acuaro de las Lleguas (13); Barolosa (9); Dos Aguas (61); 10
km. NE of Dos Aguas (5).
Heretofore this species has been known only from a few specimens from
scattered localities in the Sierra Madre Occidental in southwestern
Jalisco and Sinaloa. The collection of a large series of these lizards
in virgin pine forest at elevations of more than 2000 meters in the
Sierra de Coalcomán now makes possible an analysis of variation in the
species.
Superficially _S. bulleri_ resembles _S. torquatus_, but _S. bulleri_ is
smaller, has more dorsal scales, fewer scales in the dark collar, and
fewer femoral pores. In 88 specimens of _S. bulleri_ there are 36-41
(38.7) dorsal scales and 2 or 3 (2.6) middorsal scales in the collar, as
compared with 28-31 (29.3) dorsal scales and 3 or 4 (3.4) middorsal
scales in the collar of 26 specimens of _S. torquatus_ from Uruapan. In
20 adult males of _S. bulleri_ there are 13-15 (14.3) femoral pores, and
13-16 (14.4) in 11 females; 13 males of _S. torquatus_ have 14-21 (17.3)
femoral pores, and 13 females have 15-21 (16.7). Seventeen adult males
of _S. bulleri_ have snout-vent lengths of 72-91 (82.0); ten females,
71-87 (75.7). In comparison, 13 adult males of _S. torquatus_ have an
average snout-vent length of 88.9 mm., and 13 females, 88.5 mm. In _S.
bulleri_ there is little variation in the head scales. The frontal is in
contact with the interparietal in 63, and not in 24, specimens; the
median frontonasal is in contact with the frontal in 13, and not in 74,
specimens. In 39 specimens there are two canthals, and in 48 there is
one; in 29 specimens there are three preauriculars, and in 58 there are
four.
In life adult males have a pale blue tail, bright blue belly patches, a
purplish blue throat, and pale blue lines on the sides of the head and
neck.
This species was obtained at four localities in the high mountains of
the Sierra de Coalcomán. In this mountain range _Sceloporus bulleri_
apparently replaces _S. torquatus_, a species that is widespread in the
Cordillera Volcánica and on the Mexican Plateau. At Dos Aguas and at
Acuaro de las Lleguas the lizards were abundant in the tall pine forest,
where they were found on standing pine trees, on pine logs, and on rock
outcroppings.
~Sceloporus dugesi intermedius~ Dugès
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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