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ZOOLOGIG L SERIES

OF
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Volume XX CHICAGO, OCTOBER 31, 1936 No. 16

NOTES ON BAttAMAN REPTILES
AND AMPHIBIANS

BVKAR.P.SCHM.T NOV 161936

ASSISTANT CURATOR OP AMPHIBIAN .ND REPTILES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

A small collection of amphibians -id reptiles made in the
Bahamas by Dr. L. A. Hodsdon, of Miam has been presented by him
to Field Museum of Natural Histon he suggestion of Dr. Jay
F. W. Pearson of the University 01 ^ ami, duplicate specimens
being retained by the university. Ider. ification of this material
reveals an apparently well-characterized new insular subspecies of
Leiocephalus carinatus, the most widespread of the ground lizards
of the Bahama group. Of special interest, also, is the second known
specimen of a rock iguana from White Cay which makes it possible
to re-establish the species Cyclura cristata, which was described by
myself in 1920.

I take the occasion to list other Bahaman specimens of reptiles
in Field Museum, which were obtained by collectors employed by
the late Charles B. Cory between the ye s 1879 and 1892, in the
course of their extensive collecting of birds, and purchased by
Field Museum with the West Indian bird collections. The museum
numbers of this collection (listed below) fall between 68 and 413,
those of the Hodsdon collection between 22739 and 22756.

Hyla septentrionalis Boulenger (Great Exuma, No. 22739, Long
Island, Nos. 22740-3); Sphaerodactylus decoratus Garman (Long
Island, Nos. 22744-6) ; Sphaerodactylus gibbus Barbour (Long Island,
No. 22747); Sphaerodactylus notatus Baird (Long Island, No. 22748);
Anclis smaragdinus Barbour and Shreve (Eleuthera, Nos. 216 (16),
218); Anolis distichus Cope (Watling's Island, Nos. 222, 225-6, 263;
Long Island, No. 22750); Anolis ordinatus Cope (Bernini Islands,
No. 261; Watling's Island, Nos. 271-8; New Providence, No. 22749);
Cyclura rileyi Stejneger (Watling's Island, Nos. 290-2); Cyclura
cristata Schmidt (White Cay, No. 22755); Leiocephalus inaguae
Cochran (Great Inagua Island, Nos. 227-230); Leiocephalus loxo-

No. 370 127

128 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

grammus parnelli Barbour and Shreve (Watling's Island, No. 262);
Leiocephalus carinatus armouri Barbour and Shreve (Abaco, No. 391 ;
Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, Nos. 22753-4); Leiocephalus carinatus
coryi subsp. nov. (see below) (Bernini Islands, Nos. 259-260) ; Leio-
cephalus carinatus hodsdoni subsp. nov. (see below) (Long Island,
Salt Pond, Nos. 22751-2); Ameiva thoracica Cope (Bahama Islands,
No. 68; New Providence, No. 22756); Epicrates striatus strigilatus
(Cope) (New Providence, No. 197); Tropidophis pardalis canus
(Cope) (Great Inagua, Nos. 233, 279, 412) ; Alsophis vudii vudii Cope
(Andros Islands, Nos. 235, 265, 286; Eleuthera Island, Nos. 199,
200; Great Abaco Island, No. 413).

The specimen of Cyclura cristata, and a second specimen in the
University of Miami collection, require special comment. Dr.
Hodsdon informs me that the White Cay from which these specimens
came is the last islet of the Exuma chain to the south. Since they
correspond closely with the description of Cyclura cristata, I believe
that the type locality designated as "White Cay (north of Watling's
Island)" was in error and that the true type locality is the White
Cay above mentioned. The original label of the type bears no
information other than "White Cay, Bahamas." Cyclura cristata
has been dropped from recent lists of Bahaman reptiles partly at
my own suggestion, as I felt that differences between the sexes of
these lizards had not been adequately considered in establishing the
characters of the species. In the larger specimen, a male, the dorsal
crest contains 69 spines, which are much higher than in Cyclura
rileyi. The three skins of rileyi listed above bear collector's labels
stating that they are from the "Interior of Watling's Island." The
number of spines in the dorsal crest is 75 in two and 77 in one; in ten
specimens of rileyi in which this count is available, the range is from
71 to 79, averaging 75.3. A further difference between the male
available from White Cay and the Watling's Island specimens before
me lies in the much greater distinctness of the caudal verticils in the
former, especially toward the base of the tail. The digital combs
are composed of three scales each in cristata, and of four in rileyi.
Further material is required to place these distinctions beyond
question, and the species now requires comparison with Cyclura
figginsi, of Bitter Guana Cay in the Exuma chain, rather than with
rileyi, but on the basis of the material available, cristata may be
provisionally retained.

The descriptions of the two new forms of Leiocephalus follow.

pr

v.3,01*
1936 BAHAMAN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS — SCHMIDT 129

Leiocephalus carinatus coryi subsp. nov.

Type from Bernini Islands, Bahamas. No. 260 Field Museum of
Natural History. Female. Collected before 1892.

Diagnosis. — A small race with a high number of supraoculars,
no longitudinal dorsal lines, mid-dorsal region with small black spots,
temporal scales more sharply keeled than in Leiocephalus carinatus
armouri of the northern Bahamas.

Description of type. — Head-shields not raised, smooth except for
the parietals, which are very obscurely ridged; four scales in a row
from rostral to first frontal, a pair of internasals, two pairs of enlarged

FIG. 11. Head of Leiocephalus carinatus coryi, para type. X2.

prefrontals, and a transverse row of four scales which may be
designated as the posterior prefrontals; internasals and paired pre-
frontals separated by two median scales; prefrontals and internasals
separated from the canthals by a series of four scales; two canthals;
five superciliaries; seven smooth supraoculars, separated from the
frontals by a single row of scales and from the superciliaries by two
rows; frontals (the enlarged supraorbitals), subequal, broadly in
contact; occipital as long as the adjacent inner parietals; these about
half as broad as the outer parietals; a pair of frontoparietals; a
single posterior orbital on one side, two on the other; a transverse
series of very small postoccipitals; two somewhat irregularly dis-
posed rows of sharply keeled supratemporals adjacent to the outer
parietals, ending posteriorly in an enlarged scale; six upper and six
lower labials to a point below the center of the eye; four loreals in a
vertical line; temporal scales small, uniform, sharply keeled; anterior
border of ear with five projecting scales; dorsal and ventral scales
subequal, scarcely mucronate anteriorly, slightly denticulate, the

130 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

dorsals sharply keeled, the ventrals smooth, lateral scales a little
smaller; mid-dorsal row forming a conspicuous dorsal keel, extending
on the tail; forty-two scales around mid-body, fifty-five from the
occipital to the base of the tail; no lateral fold; a deep pocket bounded
by folds anterior to the shoulder; twenty-four tricarinate lamellae
beneath the fourth toe; caudal scales keeled above, smooth below,
not in verticils.

General color (in alcohol) dark greenish gray; obscure dark dorso-
lateral bands extend from the eye to the shoulder; dorsal area between
these bands with small spots in obscure transverse rows; lower sur-
faces paler greenish, with numerous brownish spots.

Measurements. — Length from tip of snout to anus 67 mm., tail
(reproduced) 75, arm 29, leg 52, tip of snout to posterior border of
ear 17.8, width of head 12.8.

Notes on paratype. — Field Museum No. 259 from the same locality
agrees very closely with the type in size, color pattern, and general
arrangement of the head-shields; there are three pref rentals instead
of four, and the median scales on the snout are reduced so that the
internasals are in contact, as are the anterior prefrontals.

Leiocephalus carinatus hodsdoni subsp. nov.

Type from Salt Pond, Long Island, Bahamas. No. 22752 Field
Museum of Natural History. Adult male. Collected by Dr. L. A.
Hodsdon in 1935.

Diagnosis. — Smaller than Leiocephalus carinatus carinatus of
Cuba, with head-shields less swollen, a larger number of supra-
oculars, body scales somewhat smaller, and with conspicuous black
vertical bars on the flanks.

Description of type. — Body stout, limbs strong; head-shields well
developed, the anterior ones entirely smooth; four scales in a row
from rostral to frontal; a pair of small internasals, a pair of small
anterior prefrontals, an enlarged middle pair of prefrontals, and a
transverse row of four subequal posterior prefrontals; internasals
separated by a small scale, but anterior and middle prefrontals
broadly in contact on the mid-line, enclosing a second small median
scale; two scales on one side, three on the other, separate the pre-
frontals from the canthals; two canthals, five superciliaries; seven
supraoculars on each side, faintly ridged, separated from the frontals
by a single row of small scales and from the superciliaries by a partly
double row; two pairs of frontals, the anterior a little larger than the

1936 BAHAMAN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS— SCHMIDT 131

posterior; two supraorbitals on each side behind these; occipital
narrow, as long as the adjacent inner parietals; outer parietals twice
as wide as the inner, distinctly ridged; three frontoparietals; a group
of enlarged supratemporals adjacent to the parietals, distinguishable
from the more flattened keeled temporals; four small postoccipitals
between the corners of the parietals; five upper and five lower labials
to a point below the center of the eye; four loreals in a vertical line;
anterior border of ear with six projecting scales; dorsal and ventral
scales subequal, the dorsals sharply keeled and some of them mucro-
nate and denticulate; ventrals mostly with rounded posterior edge,

FIG. 12. Head of Leiocephalus carinatus hodsdoni, paratype. X2.

faintly denticulate; lateral scales much smaller; mid-dorsal row form-
ing a conspicuous keel; forty-seven rows of scales around the body,
fifty-five from the occipital to the base of the tail; a deep pocket
bounded by folds anterior to the shoulder; twenty- two tricarinate
lamellae beneath the fourth toe; caudal scales not in verticils, sharply
keeled, mucronate and denticulate above, smooth beneath on the
basal half, beyond which all the caudals are keeled.

General color greenish-gray, the lower surfaces spotted with
black, obscure transverse black bars on the back, a broad black band
from the eye along the flanks, below which there are conspicuous
vertical black bars.

Measurements. — Snout to vent 97 mm., tail 167, arm 41, leg 75,
tip of snout to posterior border of ear 24.6, width of head 18.3.

132 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX

Notes on paratypes. — In Field Museum No. 22751 the supra-
oculars are seven on each side and in a second paratype in the
University of Miami collection they are six on one side, eight on the
other; the scales around mid-body are fifty in both. The vertical
black bars on the flanks are conspicuous.

Two additional specimens, Nos. 23748-9, likewise from Long
Island, collected by J. V. Malone, February, 1936, have been pre-
sented to Field Museum by Dr. Pearson. These agree in color
pattern and in having supraoculars 7-7 with the specimens above
described.

Through the courtesy of Dr. Thomas Barbour, of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology, I have been able to examine a series of eleven
specimens from Long Island in that institution, and nine from Fin-
der's Cay (or Iguana Cay), a small off-shore islet. Commissioner
J. V. Malone, of Long Island, has also collected specimens of Leio-
cephalus from Finder's Cay, and these have been forwarded by Dr.
Pearson for examination in connection with the description of
hodsdoni.

The eleven specimens from Long Island proper in the collection
of the Museum of Comparative Zoology agree closely in color pattern
with the description above; the number of supraoculars is somewhat
fewer in this series, however, than in the five specimens first ex-
amined, 6-6 in seven specimens and 6-7 in four.

The Pinder's Cay specimens, eighteen in all, differ from those
from Long Island in coloration and apparently in certain scale char-
acters. Thus, the scales bordering the ante-humeral pocket appear
to be more enlarged, and the auricular scales are flatter and fewer in
number. The supraoculars are 5-5 in one, 6-6 in seventeen. The
flanks are much darker, and may be described as black with light
spots rather than light with dark bars. I refrain from giving a name
to this form, with the feeling that it perhaps represents a sub-race of
hodsdoni, and that to give it a trinomial, putting it upon apparently
equal footing with the principal races of these lizards in the Ba-
hamas, would be misleading. The status of such races can scarcely
be elucidated without a uniform survey of the genus as a whole in the
Bahama group. The principal requirement for such a survey is more
adequate field notes than are at present available, with a renewed
accumulation of well-preserved, and especially of uniformly pre-
served, material.

There is no trace of the longitudinal dorsal striping of Leiocephalus
carinatus armouri in these specimens, and the supraoculars in armouri

1936 BAHAMAN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS — SCHMIDT 133

are 5-5 in two, 5-6 in one, and 6-6 in two, in the five specimens
available for comparison. The first row of pref rentals in armouri
consists of three scales, which tend to be separated by a contact of
the middle prefrontals with the frontals, instead of the transverse
row of hodsdoni. Leiocephalus carinatus punctatus, from Acklin's
and Crooked Island, has a conspicuously white-spotted head, and
does not have vertical lateral bars, and both L. c. helenae and L. c.
picinus are compared directly with it by the describers.

Remarks. — Even with the addition of the two forms here described
there is a conspicuous hiatus in our knowledge of the Bahaman
Leiocephalus, for what is presumably the main population of these
lizards allied to L. carinatus, on Andros Island and New Providence,
is still without subspecific designation.

It is impossible to examine the growing list of island forms of
Leiocephalus in the West Indies without observing that this genus
compares with Lacerta in the Mediterranean islands, and with
Ameiva elsewhere in the West Indies, in active speciation correlated
with its isolation on islands of varying size and age.

REFERENCES
BARBOUR, THOMAS

1935. A Second List of Antillean Reptiles and Amphibians. Zoologica, 19,
pp. 77-141.

BARBOUR, T., and SHREVE, B.

1935. Concerning Some Bahaman Reptiles, with Notes on the Fauna. Proc.
Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 40, pp. 347-366.

SCHMIDT, KARL P.

1920. A New Cyclura from White Cay, Bahama Islands. Proc. Linn. Soc.
N. Y., 33, pp. 6-7. TOE LIBRAnY op THE

NOV161936

UNIVERSITY OF ILL I NOI?

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA