Part 2

PLATE IV.

The _Sceloporus_ of the mainland at Santa Barbara is the ordinary _S. occidentalis_; that is to say, it is the smaller form with a complete series of scales between the large supraoculars and the median head plates, with from thirty-five to forty-six dorsal scales between the interparietal plate and the back of the thighs, with keeled scales on the back of the thigh, and with two blue patches on the throat. Five specimens from San Miguel Island resemble this species closely in size, but are more nearly like _S. biseriatus_ in coloration, and differ from both in the possession of certain characters most unusual in a member of the _S. undulatus_ group. I take pleasure in naming this island form in honor of Mr. R. H. Beck, who collected the specimens.

_Diagnosis._--Frontal and parietal plates separated from enlarged supraoculars by a series of small scales or granules; frontoparietal plate in contact with enlarged supraoculars; scales on back of thigh smaller than those in front of anus; 43-48 dorsals between interparietal and back of thighs; scales on back of thigh keeled; whole throat and chin blue crossed by diagonal black lines which unite posteriorly with a large black patch extending across throat from shoulder to shoulder.

_Type._--Adult male, Cal. Acad. Sci. No. 4537, San Miguel Island, California, R. H. Beck, March 26, 1903.

_Description._--Head and body little depressed; nostril opening much nearer to end of snout than to orbit; upper head shields smooth, moderately large and slightly convex, interparietal largest; frontal divided transversely; parietal and frontal plates separated from enlarged supraoculars by a series of small plates or granules; frontoparietal in contact with enlarged supraoculars; superciliaries long and strongly imbricate; middle subocular very long, narrow and strongly keeled; rostral plate of moderate height but great width; labials long, low and nearly rectangular; symphyseal large and pentangular; some series of enlarged sublabials; gulars smooth, imbricate, often emarginate posteriorly; ear-opening large, slightly oblique, with anterior denticulation of smooth acuminate scales; scales on back equal-sized, keeled, mucronate with slight denticulation, and arranged in nearly parallel longitudinal rows; lateral scales smaller and directed obliquely upward; upper and anterior surfaces of limbs with strongly keeled and mucronate scales; posterior surface of thigh with small, acuminate, keeled scales; ventral scales much smaller than dorsals, smooth, imbricate, and usually bicuspid; tail furnished with slightly irregular whorls of strongly keeled and pointed scales which are much larger and rougher above than below, where they are smooth proximally; femoral pores 14-16; 9-12 dorsal scales equaling length of shielded part of head; number of scales in a row between interparietal plate and a line connecting posterior surfaces of thighs varying from 43-48; males with enlarged postanal plates.

The color above is grayish, brownish, or greenish blue, with a series of dark brown blotches on each side of the back. A pale longitudinal band separates the dorsal from the lateral regions. The sides are brownish or grayish, mottled with darker brown and dotted or suffused with green or pale blue. The head is usually crossed by narrow brown lines, more or less irregular in distribution. A brown line connects the orbit and upper corner of the ear, and is continued backward on the neck. There is a large blue patch on each side of the belly, bordered internally with black in highly colored males. The chin and throat are blue, pale anteriorly and changing to black posteriorly, crossed by narrow oblique black lines which converge posteriorly and blend with the black patches on the throat and in front of the shoulders in males. There is a white patch at each side of the anus, and a yellowish white band along the series of femoral pores.

Length to anus 64 66 70 70[3] Length of tail 76 68 78 79 Snout to ear 14 13 14 16 Width of head 14 12 14 15 Shielded part of head 14 13 14 15 Fore limb 27 26 27 30 Hind limb 41 39 41 46 Base of fifth to end of fourth toe 16 15 16 18

[Footnote 3: Type.]

This species is in general appearance similar to _S. occidentalis_, but differs in the contact of the frontoparietal and supraocular shields, the coloration of the throat, and the somewhat more feeble carination and mucronation of its dorsal and caudal scales. Specimens from Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands, as stated below, seem to show that this form has been developed from _S. biseriatus_ stock.

Five specimens (Nos. 4534-4538) in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences were secured by Mr. R. H. Beck on San Miguel Island, March 26, 1903.

=3. Gerrhonotus scincicauda= _Skilton_.

One specimen (Cal. Acad. Sci. No. 4539) was taken by Mr. Beck on San Miguel Island, March 26, 1903. It has dorsals in 14½ × 49 rows, temporals smooth, scales on arm and forearm smooth, and dark ventral lines along the middles of the scale rows. It seems to differ from the Santa Rosa Island specimens only in the slightly more feeble carination of the scales generally, the small size of the azygous prefrontal and of the scales on the under surface of the forearm, and a tendency toward the formation of fourteen rows of ventral scales shown by the presence of a few small scales along the edge of each lateral fold in addition to the usual twelve longitudinal rows. There are sixty-six ventrals in a row between the chin and the anus.

SANTA ROSA ISLAND.

I have examined one species of _Batrachoseps_ and two kinds of lizards from this island. The _Gerrhonotus_ has already been reported from the island, the others are new to its known fauna.

=1. Batrachoseps pacificus= _Cope_.

Dr. Gustav Eisen secured eight specimens of _Batrachoseps_ on Santa Rosa Island in June, 1897. These are now in the collection of the Academy (Nos. 3877-3880 and 3891-3894) and seem to differ in no respect from the form found on San Miguel Island. All have seventeen costal grooves.

The measurements of these specimens are

Length to anus 21 22 24 32 33 35 41 42 Length of tail 14 16 21 23 23 .. 46 27 Width of head 3 3 3¾ 5 4½ 5 5 6 Snout to orbit 1½ 1¼ 1½ 2 2¼ 2 2¼ 2½ Snout to gular fold 5 5 6 7¼ 7 8 8½ 9½ Snout to fore limb 6 6 8 10 9 10 12 12 Between limbs 13 14 15 21 19 23 26 26 Fore limb 4½ 4 5 6¼ 6 6 7¼ 8 Hind limb 4½ 4 5 6½ 6 6¼ 7½ 8

=2. Sceloporus biseriatus becki= _Van Denburgh_.

A series of eight _Scelopori_ collected on Santa Rosa Island by Dr. Gustav Eisen in June, 1897, seems to show that the differentiation from _S. biseriatus_ has not progressed so far on this island as on San Miguel.[4] Thus although all the adult specimens from Santa Rosa Island show the coloration of the San Miguel Island form, only two have the typical arrangement of the supraoculars, while the other six specimens have the frontoparietal separated from the enlarged supraoculars. The less highly colored young males show a single median blue throat patch, as in _S. biseriatus_, indicating that the island lizard is more closely related to that species than to _S. occidentalis_.

[Footnote 4: Dr. Merriam tells me that a parallel is found in the island foxes, whose characters are constant on San Miguel but not on the other islands.]

The fact that the characters of this form seem to be constant on San Miguel while varying toward _S. biseriatus_ on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands raises an interesting question in nomenclature: Should the San Miguel Island form be regarded as a species or as a subspecies? If these lizards inhabited a peninsula one would use a trinomial for them all, but since they are found on well separated islands the facts seem to be best expressed by the nomenclature adopted above.

3. =Gerrhonotus scincicauda= _Skilton_.

PLATE VII, FIGS. 3-4.

_Gerrhonotus scincicauda_ VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 106.

I am unable to distinguish six specimens (Cal. Acad. Sci. Nos. 3881-3883 and 3896-3898) collected on Santa Rosa Island from the species now known as _G. scincicauda_; that is to say, the form with fourteen longitudinal rows of scales, single interoccipital plate, large azygous prefrontal, longitudinal lines along the middle of each row of ventral scales, and smooth temporals. This clearly is the form to which Baird and Girard applied the name _G. scincicauda_, but that it is the species originally described by Skilton seems far from certain.[5]

[Footnote 5: Skilton's description, which seems to apply rather to the species afterward named by Baird and Girard _Gerrhonotus principis_, is as follows:

"=Tropidolepis scincicauda=, n. s. Slender, tail much longer than body, cylindrical. Dermal plates of the body and tail, carinate above, smooth beneath, verticillate. The carinate plates in nine rows. Color, dusky green above, light ash color below. A row of small dark spots on each flank. Another row of smaller ones along the vertebral line. Some of the dark colored scales on the flanks tipped with a whitish color. Length five to five and a half inches."

The plate accompanying Skilton's article is so poor as to throw no light on this question, and it seems best to make no change in the nomenclature until some one has examined Skilton's specimens, one of which, according to Yarrow's Catalogue, is No. 3089 of the National Museum collection.]

The specimens from Santa Rosa Island all have dorsals in fourteen longitudinal series. The number of transverse series between the interoccipital plate and the backs of the thighs is fifty in one specimen, fifty-one in three, fifty-two in one, and fifty-three in one. One has the brachial scales very weakly keeled. They were collected by Dr. Gustav Eisen in June, 1897.

SANTA CRUZ ISLAND.

A _Hyla_ and two species of lizards have heretofore been recorded as inhabiting Santa Cruz Island. Another lizard is here reported for the first time.

=1. Hyla regilla= _Baird & Girard_.

_Hyla regilla_ YARROW, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 24, 1882, p. 171; COPE, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 34, 1889, p. 360.

Yarrow and Cope record this species as having been collected on Santa Cruz Island by Mr. H. W. Henshaw in June, 1875, but another portion of the same lot of specimens (U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 8686) is stated to be from Santa Cruz, California. Mr. Henshaw tells me he never has collected in Santa Cruz County, and that these specimens unquestionably came from Santa Cruz Island where he collected in the summer of 1875.

=2. Uta stansburiana= _Baird & Girard_.

_Uta stansburiana_ YARROW, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 24, 1882, p. 56; TOWNSEND, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. 13, 1890, p. 144; VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 68; COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), p. 310.

The register of the United States National Museum states that two specimens of this lizard (No. 8619) were collected by Dr. O. Loew, on Santa Cruz Island in June, 1875. These lizards are still in the National collection and are of considerable interest since they, and two from Ana Capa Island, are the only ones I have seen which approach the San Benito Island _Uta_ (described below) in the character of their dorsal lepidosis. That these specimens actually were collected by Dr. Loew on Santa Cruz Island is, I think, open to little doubt, since he, with Mr. H. W. Henshaw and Dr. J. T. Rothrock, visited this island in June, 1875.[6]

[Footnote 6: See Report, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. 1876, pt. 3, pp. 435, 445, etc.]

A series of eight specimens collected on Santa Cruz Island, February 7, 1889, by Mr. C. H. Townsend of the U. S. Fish Commission, (U. S. Nat. Mus. Nos. 15909-15917) are all of the ordinary _Uta stansburiana_ type with imbricate dorsals and mucronate caudals. Four others, taken by Mr. Joseph Grinnell at Friar's Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, are also of the usual type. These have femoral pores 13-14, 15-15, 12-13, and 15-15.

=3. Sceloporus biseriatus becki= _Van Denburgh_.

Mr. Joseph Grinnell has kindly sent me five specimens of the _Sceloporus_ of Santa Cruz Island, three of which he has given to the Academy. All five show the characteristic coloration of _S. becki_. Three have the supraoculars in contact with the frontoparietals on both sides of the head, one has these scales in contact on one side but separated on the other, and the fifth specimen has granules intervening on both sides.

=4. Gerrhonotus scincicauda= _Skilton_.

_Gerrhonotus scincicaudus_ YARROW, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 24, 1882, p. 48; VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 106.

_Gerrhonotus multicarinatus_ COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), p. 525.

Yarrow and Cope record two specimens (U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 8626) collected on Santa Cruz Island by Mr. H. W. Henshaw in June, 1875. One of these is still in the National Museum, where I examined it some years ago.

ANA CAPA ISLAND.

I believe no reptiles have been recorded from Ana Capa. Only the following species has come into my hands.

=1. Uta stansburiana= _Baird & Girard_.

Mr. Joseph Grinnell has sent me seven specimens collected on Ana Capa Island, September 4, 1903. Five of these are typical _U. stansburiana_, but the other two have dorsals similar to those of the two specimens collected by Dr. Loew on Santa Cruz Island; that is to say, they approach in this respect the _Uta_ of San Benito Island. The dorsal scales, however, are well keeled and the caudals are of the normal type. The femoral pores in the Ana Capa specimens are 14-14, 14-15, 14-?, 14-15, 14-14, 14-15, and 14-15.

SAN NICOLAS ISLAND.

San Nicolas Island is the type locality of _Xantusia riversiana_. No other reptile has been found there.

=1. Xantusia riversiana= _Cope_.

PLATE V, FIG. 2.

_Xantusia riversiana_ COPE, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1883, p. 29; RIVERS, Am. Nat. v. 23, 1889, p. 1100; VAN DENBURGH, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 2d ser. v. 5, 1895, p. 534; VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 132; COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), p. 552.

In describing this species Cope failed to state where his specimens were collected. Rivers later assigned them to San Nicolas Island, but the matter has remained open to question. I am, therefore, very glad to be able to record the fact that Mr. Joseph Grinnell has sent me three specimens of this _Xantusia_ taken by himself on San Nicolas Island, May 22-23, 1897. One of these specimens is uniform drab, with a few dark spots. The others are of the handsome striped style of coloration (see plate).

SANTA BARBARA ISLAND.

I believe no reptiles or amphibians have been recorded from this island. I have seen only the following species:

=1. Xantusia riversiana= _Cope_.

Mr. Joseph Grinnell has sent me four Xantusias from Santa Barbara Island. They are smaller than the specimens I have seen from the other islands, but seem to differ in no other respect. The largest is 64 mm. from snout to vent. All are dark drab above with small, discrete black spots. One shows traces of longitudinal dorsal bands near the tail.

SANTA CATALINA ISLAND.

One salamander, two lizards, and a rattlesnake have been taken on Santa Catalina.

=1. Batrachoseps attenuatus= (_Eschscholtz_).

A single specimen collected at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, by Mr. A. M. Drake (Cal. Acad. Sci. No. 3726) seems indistinguishable from the mainland species. It has nineteen costal grooves, slender limbs, and narrow head. The coloration is uniform slaty brown above, paler below. Three specimens secured on this island by Mr. Fuchs differ from this one only in the slightly paler coloration.

=2. Uta stansburiana= _Baird & Girard_.

_Uta stansburiana_ COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), p. 311.

This lizard has been recorded from Santa Catalina by Professor Cope. Two specimens collected at Avalon by Mr. J. I. Carlson are in the collection of the Academy (Nos. 4754 and 4755). They seem to be fairly typical _U. stansburiana_ with moderately imbricate dorsals. The femoral pores are thirteen or fourteen.

=3. Xantusia riversiana= _Cope_.

_Xantusia riversiana_ RIVERS, Am. Nat. v. 23, 1889, p. 1100; VAN DENBURGH, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 2d ser. v. 5, 1895, p. 534; VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 132.

I have seen no specimens of this lizard from Santa Catalina, but Mr. J. J. Rivers states that he has received several from this island.

=4. Crotalus oregonus= _Holbrook_.

_Crotalus lucifer_ YARROW, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 24, 1882, p. 76; STEJNEGER, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1893 (1895), p. 447.

Yarrow records a rattlesnake as having been taken by Mr. P. Schumacher on Santa Catalina Island in 1876. Stejneger also refers to its presence there. I have seen no snakes from any of the Californian islands.

SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND.

Two species of lizards are known from this island.

=1. Uta stansburiana= _Baird & Girard_.

_Uta stansburiana_ TOWNSEND, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. 13, 1890, p. 144; VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 68; COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), pp. 310, 311.

Two specimens were taken on San Clemente Island by C. H. Townsend in 1889. Mr. A. W. Anthony and Dr. E. A. Mearns also found the species there and sent specimens to the National Museum.

I have examined those collected by Mr. Townsend and Mr. Anthony and six specimens sent me by Mr. Joseph Grinnell, of which three are now in the collection of the Academy, and am unable to distinguish the island lizards from the form originally described by Baird and Girard. The femoral pores in three specimens are eleven, twelve, and fourteen.

=2. Xantusia riversiana= _Cope_.

PLATE V, FIG. 1.

_Xantusia riversiana_ COPE, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. 12, 1889, p. 147; VAN DENBURGH, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 2d ser. v. 5, 1895, p. 534; VAN DENBURGH, Occas. Papers, Cal. Acad. Sci. 5, 1897, p. 132; COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), pp. 552, 553.

This lizard was found on San Clemente by Mr. C. H. Townsend. I have examined several specimens in the collections of the University of California and the California Academy of Sciences without finding differences between them and specimens from San Nicolas and Santa Barbara Islands.

LOS CORONADOS.

I believe that only one reptile from Los Coronados is represented in collections, but I am informed that several other kinds, including _Gerrhonotus_ and _Hypsiglena_, occur on these islands[7].

[Footnote 7: Since this was written I have been informed by Dr. F. Baker, of San Diego, that he has taken the following reptiles on these islands:--

North Coronado: _Gerrhonotus scincicauda_ [_ignavus?_], July 3, 1898, _Eumeces skiltonianus_, July 3, 1898. South Coronado: _Uta stansburiana_, July 3, 1898, _Gerrhonotus scincicauda_ [_ignavus?_], July 3, 1898, _Cnemidophorus stejnegeri_, July 3, 1898, _Hypsiglena ochrorhynchus_, August 13, 1898, _Crotalus_ [_oregonus_], August 13, 1898. ]

=1. Crotalus oregonus= _Holbrook_.

_Crotalus adamanteus atrox_ STREETS, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 7, 1877, p. 40; YARROW, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 24, 1882, p. 75 [part].

_Crotalus atrox_ VAN DENBURGH, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 2d ser. v. 5, 1895, p. 156 [part].

_Crotalus lucifer_ STEJNEGER, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1893 (1895), pp. 445, 447.

_Crotalus confluentus confluentus_ COPE, Report, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1898 (1900), p. 1173 [part].

Streets recorded as _Crotalus adamanteus atrox_ a rattlesnake which he secured on Los Coronados. Dr. Stejneger has shown that this specimen, which is still in the National Museum, is a Pacific Rattlesnake.

SAN MARTIN ISLAND.

The only reptile heretofore known from San Martin is a gopher snake found by Dr. Streets. The Academy has also specimens of two species of lizards from the island, both of which are here described as new. The _Uta_ probably is confined to the island, while the _Gerrhonotus_ seems to be found throughout the San Diegan Fauna.

=1. Uta martinensis= sp. nov.

PLATE VI.

_Diagnosis._--Similar to _U. stansburiana_ but larger; fifth toe reaching to or beyond end of second; dorsals imbricate, mucronate, strongly keeled; scales on upper surfaces of arm and thigh keeled; scales of ear-denticulation longer than the longest diameter of largest temporal; caudals large, imbricate, strongly keeled and mucronate.

_Type._--Adult male, Cal. Acad. Sci. No. 4698, San Martin Island, Lower California, Mexico, R. H. Beck, May 3, 1903.

_Description of the Type._--Body and head considerably depressed; snout low, rounded; nostrils large, opening upward and outward nearer to end of snout than to orbit; head plates large, smooth, nearly flat, interparietal largest; frontal divided transversely; 3 or 4 enlarged supraoculars, separated from the frontals and frontoparietals by 1 series of small plates; superciliaries long, narrow and projecting; central subocular very long, narrow and strongly keeled; rostral and supralabials long and low; 6 supralabials; symphyseal small, followed on each side by a series of 5 or more large plates which are separated from the infralabials by 1 or 2 series of sublabials; gular region covered with smooth, hexagonal or rounded scales changing to granules on the sides of the neck and to larger imbricate scales on the strong gular fold, largest on the denticulate edge of gular fold where larger than scales on belly; a group of enlarged plates in front of ear-opening; ear denticulation very long, of 3 scales, largest exceeding in length longest diameter of largest plate in front of ear; back covered centrally with nearly uniform imbricate, keeled scales which change gradually to granules on neck and sides of body, and become mucronate posteriorly; scales largest on tail, strongly imbricate, strongly keeled and mucronate above and on sides; posterior surfaces of thighs and arms covered with small granular scales similar to those on sides of body; other surfaces of limbs provided with imbricate scales, keeled on upper surfaces of arm, forearm, thigh, leg, and foot; adpressed fore limb not reaching insertion of thigh; fifth finger reaching about to end of second; fifth toe reaching to or beyond end of second; femoral pores 15; 17-23 of largest dorsals equaling shielded part of head.

Head above grayish olive; central portion of neck and back dark brown, with 2 series of rather indefinite darker brown blotches each bordered behind and sometimes laterally by pale blue scales; some scattered pale blue dots on back and upper surfaces of limbs and tail; tail marbled with brown and blue; sides mottled with brown and pale bluish yellow, forming stripes on sides of neck; chin and gular region indigo, mottled with bluish yellow at sides; postaxillary blotch blackish indigo; lower surfaces of body, limbs and tail grayish indigo.