Sonora savagei ( Cliff 1954 )

Cox, Christian L., Davis Rabosky, Alison R., Holmes, Iris A., Reyes-Velasco, Jacobo, Roelke, Corey E., Smith, Eric N., Flores-Villela, Oscar, McGuire, Jimmy A. & Campbell, Jonathan A., 2018, Synopsis and taxonomic revision of three genera in the snake tribe Sonorini, Journal of Natural History 52 (13 - 16), pp. 945-988 : 973-974

Sonora savagei ( Cliff 1954)

Chilomeniscus savagei Cliff 1954:71 . Holotype: The holotype is in the California Academy

of Sciences ( CAS-SU 14031 ) . Type locality: ‘south-west coast of Cerralvo Island’ Baja

California Sur, Mexico. Chilomeniscus savagei Banta and Leviton 1963:322 Chilomeniscus savagei Grismer et al. 2002:27 Chilomeniscus savagei Holm 2008:36

Diagnosis

Sonora savagei can be distinguished from all other Sonora except for S. fasciata , S. cincta , S. stramineus and S. punctatissiumus by the presence of an elongated rostrum. Sonora savagei can be distinguished from S. fasciata , S. cincta , S. stramineus , and S. punctatissiumus by the lack of dark spots in pale bands, broad contact of the internasals with the frontal scale ( Holm 2008), separated and reduced prefrontal scales, an enlarged frontal scale, and ( Grismer et al. 2002). Sonora savagei i s the only member of the genus Sonora on Isla Ceralvo.

Variation

Sonora savagei possesses dark bands on a light background.

Distribution

Sonora savagei is only known from Cerralvo Island off of the south-eastern coast of Baja California Sur .

Remarks

Sonora savagei is recognized based upon clear scutellation differences from other members of the subgenus Chilomeniscus , but we did not have access to tissue samples for this study. Future research that provides genetic samples of Sonora savagei can confirm the inclusion of this species in the subgenus Chilomeniscus .