The Systematic Status of Eumeces pluvialis
    Cope, and Noteworthy Records of Other
    Amphibians and Reptiles From
    Kansas and Oklahoma

    BY
    HOBART M. SMITH

    University of Kansas Publications
    Museum of Natural History

    Volume 1, No. 2, pp. 85-89
    August 15, 1946

    UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
    LAWRENCE
    1946

    UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

    Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Donald S. Farner,
             Donald F. Hoffmeister

    Volume 1, No. 2, pp. 85-89

    Published August 15, 1946

    UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
    Lawrence, Kansas

    PRINTED BY
    FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER
    TOPEKA, KANSAS
    1946

    [Illustration]

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The Systematic Status of Eumeces pluvialis Cope, and Noteworthy Records
of Other Amphibians and Reptiles from Kansas and Oklahoma

By

HOBART M. SMITH


A number of noteworthy items have come to attention in the course of a
survey of material for a handbook on the herpetology of Kansas. Some of
the items, which follow, can be recorded here more appropriately than in
the handbook.


=Eumeces anthracinus pluvialis= Cope

Recent material in addition to information presented in Taylor's
monograph of _Eumeces_ (Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 23, 1935) reveals that
_Eumeces anthracinus_ is composed of three geographically distinct
populations: One occurs from western New York to northern Georgia, and
west to Kentucky, in the Appalachian uplands or northward of them; a
second centers about the Ozark uplands but extends into northwestern
Louisiana, eastern Texas, central Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, and nearly
as far east as the Mississippi river in northern Arkansas and southern
Missouri; the third population occurs in extreme southern Alabama and
Mississippi.

These populations differ in at least the color of the young. Specimens
from the eastern area are marked at birth like the adults; those from
the western area are black at birth and develop stripes as they grow
older; unfortunately young specimens from the southern area are not
known.

Obviously at least two races are involved, the eastern and the
western. Whether the southern population belongs to one of these races
or is distinct is unknown. Until this point is settled the name for
the western race will remain in doubt. The eastern race is the typical
one, _Eumeces a. anthracinus_ (Baird) (Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.,
1 (ser. 2):294, 1850; type locality North Mountain, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania). The southern population has been named _pluvialis_ by
Cope (Ann. Rept. U. S. Nat. Mus., 74:663-664, 1900; type locality
Mobile, Alabama). Unfortunately no name is available for the western
population. It may either be called _Eumeces anthracinus pluvialis_,
or be given a new name, according to the ultimate decision on its
consubspecificity with the southern population. I suggest retention of
the name _pluvialis_ at least until a more careful study indicates the
necessity of further change.


=Eurycea lucifuga= (Rafinesque)

On October 21, 1945, E. W. Jameson, Jr., discovered a specimen of this
species in a small cave situated in a park 1-1/4 miles south of Galena,
Cherokee County, Kansas, on the north side of Shoal Creek, NW 1/4 of
Sec. 35, T. 35 S., R. 25 E. Later the same day Claude W. Hibbard and I
returned to the same cave, and with the help of Jameson found two more
specimens. All were found under stones in the twilight zone. Exploration
of deeper recesses of the cave was impossible because the larger
entrances to them had been closed off with cement to prevent children
from entering. No water was running from the cave at the time we were
there, although there was visible evidence of a previous heavy flow of
water, probably in times of heavy and prolonged rains. The only other
salamanders found in the limited area available for exploration belonged
to _Eurycea longicauda melanopleura_ (Cope), a form considerably more
abundant in the cave than _E. lucifuga_.

This constitutes the first published record of the occurrence of _E.
lucifuga_ in Kansas. Previous records from Arkansas, Missouri and
Oklahoma, as well as a sight record by Taylor (Smith, Amer. Midl. Nat.,
15:382-383, 1934) have indicated its probable occurrence in Kansas.

The largest specimen obtained is an adult male measuring 166 mm. in
total length; it exceeds by 2 mm. the maximum previously known. The
pattern and other characters of all specimens appear typical. The
specimens are in the Museum of Natural History of the University of
Kansas.


=Hyla crucifer crucifer= Wied

In 1943 Bragg (Great Basin Nat., 4:67, 1943) stated that _Hyla crucifer
crucifer_ has been recorded with certainty from only one county in
Oklahoma, McCurtain County in the extreme southeastern part of the
state. Reports of their call being heard in Le Flore County, immediately
north of McCurtain County had also been transmitted to him.

In Kansas the species is still known only from the northern half of the
extreme eastern part of the state (Smith, Amer. Midl. Nat., 15:472,
1934). Between this area and southeastern Oklahoma no record of
occurrence of the species has been available.

An adult specimen taken by Dr. Joseph Tihen in the extreme southeastern
corner of Delaware County, Oklahoma (Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kans., No.
20827), thus provides a second definite locality for the species in
Oklahoma and suggests the probability that it ranges along the entire
eastern border of both Kansas and Oklahoma. The specimen is in poor
condition but enough of the pattern and some other features can be
discerned to permit reliable identification.

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