Salvadora hexalepis ( Cope, 1866 )

Hernández-Jiménez, Carlos A., Flores-Villela, Oscar, Aguilar-Bremauntz, Aranzazú & Campbell, Jonathan A., 2021, Phylogenetic relationships based on morphological data and taxonomy of the genus Salvadora Baird & Girard, 1853 (Reptilia, Colubridae), European Journal of Taxonomy 764 (1), pp. 85-118 : 99-100

Salvadora hexalepis ( Cope, 1866)

Fig. 9

Phimothyra hexalepis Cope, 1866: 304 .

Subspecies included

S. hexalepis hexalepis

S. hexalepis virgultea

S. hexalepis mojavesis

S. hexalepis klauberi

Diagnosis

Well-developed rostral scale with free lateral edges; normally 9 supralabials, or occasionally 8 or 10; supralabials in contact with the eye, usually only sixth is in contact; 10–11 infralabials; preocular divided; loreal scale normally divided; prenasal scale separated from the second supralabial; a second pair of chinshields separated by two rows of scales; ventral scales 180–213; subcaudal scales vary from 75 to 103; maxillary teeth 10–12 +3. With the exception of S. hexalepis virgultea , the dark dorsolateral lines are normally separated from the lateral lines at the level of the third and fourth rows of dorsal scales; tail length is 20 to 26% of the total body length.

Salvadora hexalepis differs at the species level from the other species in the grahamiae group by having a divided preocular, fewer than 113 subcaudals, and a tail length less than 29% of the total length. It differs from S. grahamiae , S. intermedia , S. gymnorhachis and S. bairdi by having 9 to 10 supralabials, the sixth in contact with the eye versus 8 supralabials present in the other species in the grahamiae group. It differs from S. deserticola by having a divided loreal and 75–103 subcaudals.

Type material examined

UNITED STATES • Arizona, Fort Whipple ; USNM 7894 .

Distribution and conservation

This species occurs in the southwestern United States from Nevada, southern Utah, southward through California, Arizona, the Baja California Peninsula and Sonora including Tiburón, San José, and Espíritu Santo Islands in the Gulf of California. ( Fig. 9 ).

Within its distribution, S. hexalepis has been recorded in several protected natural areas in Mexico and the United States. Mexico and the United States do not extend legal protection to this species. It is listed by the IUCN as a species of Least Concern.

Figures

Fig. 9. Locality records of Salvadora hexalepis (Cope, 1866) and its subspecies. Blue dots represent S. h. mojavensis Bogert, 1945; yellow dots S. h. virgultea Bogert, 1935; red dots S. h. hexalepis (Cope, 1866) and green dots S. h. klauberi Bogert, 1945.