Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas: With Keys, Taxonomic Synopses, Bibliography, and Distribution Maps (W.L. Moody, Jr., Natural History Series, No. 8.)

430 Pages·2000·66.76 MB·English

by  James Ray Dixon

Copyright 02 000
by James R. Dixon
Manufact~redin the
United States of America
All rights reserved
Second Edition
The paper useidn this book
meets the minimum requ~e~ents
of the American National Standard
for Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials,
239.48-1984.
Binding materials
have been chosen for durability.
@
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-~ublicationD ata
Dixon, James Ray.
Amphibians and reptiles of Texas :w ith keys, taxonomic synopses,
bibliography, and distribution maps / James R. Dixon. -2n d ed.
cm. -(M oody natural history series :n o, 25)
p.
Includes bibliographical references( p. ).
ISBN 0-89096-919-1 (c). -ISBN 0-89096-920-5 (p)
1. Amp~lbians-Texas. 2, Reptiles-Texas, I. Title.
11. Series: W L. Moody, Jr., natural history series :n o. 25.
QL653.T4D59 2000
597.9’09764-d~21 99-40452
CIP
List of Illustrations I vi
Ac~no~ledgmentI sv ii
Introduction / 3
Keys to the ~mphi~iaannsd Reptiles of Texas / 9
Salamanders I 9
Frogs andToads I 11
Generic Key to theA mphi~ianL arvae of Texas / 17
Turtles /
18
Lizards / 23
Snakes / 31
Species Accounts / 50
Class Amphi~ia/ 51
Order Caudata /
51
~rdeAr nura / 60
Class Reptilia / 80
Order Crocodilia / 80
Order Testudinata / 80
Order Squamata / 94
Maps I 167
Glossary I 261
i~liography/ 267
Index of C o ~ oNnam es / 411
Index of Scientific Names / 416
Some keyf eatures of salamanders
I.
2. Some keyf eatures of frogs and toads
3. Cranial crestso n a bufonid toad
Turtle carapace: snapping turtle; sea turtle head
4.
5- Turtle plastron; nasal septum ridge
6. Lizard head scales, dorsavl iew
7- Lizard head scales, lateral view
8. Lizard head scales, ventral view
9- Reptile scales, dorsal view; lizard femoral pores
Snalce head scales, ventral view
IO.
Snake head scales, dorsavl iew
If.
Loreal pito n copperhead, lateral view
12.
I3 Snake anal plate and tail, ventral view
*
Snake head scalelsa, teral view
14.
~~o~ograp~s ~e1g53~ ~~i~gpage
Mole Salaman~er
Texas Blind Salamander
Black-spotted Newt
Mexican Burrowing Toad
Spotted ChirpinFg rog
Mexican Tree Frog
Houston Toad
Pig Frog
Big Bend MudT urtle
Cagle’s MapT urtle
~eticulatedG ecko
Mountain ~hort-hornedL izard
M~s~uiLtieza rd
Gray-checkered Whiptail
Desert Grassland h ipt tail
~orthernSc arlet Snake
~estern ~Snoakrem
lack-striped Snake
Speckled Racer
ird’s Rat Snake
dland Water Snake
mooth Green Snake
Tra~s-~ec olasc k-heade~ Snake
Plains Garter Snake
Texas LyreS nake
S
This work would never have been poswsibitlheo ut the aid of colleagues, friends,
and students. I am particularly pleased to acknowledge the aid of two formers tu-
dents, Ken Kinga nd David Kizirianw, ho suffered the hardships of surveying north-
west Texasc ounties that possessed fewert han IO recorded specieso f amphibians
and reptiles; theyd id an admirable job.
John Malone madet he amphibian identi~cationk ey more user-friendlya nd
added the larval key to amphibian genera; for this I am profoundly grateful.
My thanks to thosec urators who respondedt o my plea form useum records:
P. Alberch, W. Auffenberg, R. L. Bezy, B. C. Brown, S. D. Busak, J. Campbell,
C. C. Carpenter, A. H. Chaney, C. J. Cole, W. W. Dalquest, W. G. Degenhardt,
W. E. Duellman, N. Ford, J. Fouquette, T. Fritts, D. A. Gallagher, J. Green,
H. W, Greene, S. Hammack, L, M. Hardy, W. R. Heyer, R. F. Inger, J. Karges,
S. Kerr, A. G. Kluge, J. M. Legler, D. Lentz, A.E . Leviton, C. S. Lieb, E. A. Liner,
the late C. J. McCoy, R. W McDiarmid, E. V. Malnate, the late R. E. Martin, H. Marx,
T, Maxwell,J . S. Mecham, W. Montgomery, E. Morgan, R. H. Mount, C. W. Myers,
M. A.N ickerson, R. A. Nussbaum, W. J. Pyburn, F. Rainwater, J. Rosado, W, Seifert,
N. J. Scott, J. F. Scudday, C. B. Smith, H. M. Smith, the late P. W. Smith, F. B. Stangl,
T. Uzzell,J . V. Vindum, W. J. Voss, D, B. Wake, R. G. Webb, J. W. Wright,
G. Zug, and R. G. Zweifel.
Special thanks go to those colleagueasn d students who furnished specimen
records, literature, and other courtesies: R. W. Axtell, the late R. J. Baldauf,
D. Barker, P. M. Burchfield, C. T. Goody, R. H. Dean, C. H. Ernst, the late E, Farmer,
G. W. Ferguson, T. Gallucci, M. Haiduk, C. Harrison, F. S. Hendricks, T. Hibbitts,
J. B. Iverson, J. D. Johnson, J. Karges, B. Keeley, W. W, Lamar, W. L. McClure,
H. D. McCrystal,J . H. Malone, E. J. Michaud, E. 0. Moll, W. S. Parker, the late
F. E. Potter, A. H. Price, H. Quinn, F. L. Rose, M. E. Seidel,J . W. Sites, F. B. Stangl,
D. Stine, S. Stone, R. A. Thomas, T. Vance, T. VermerschJ,. Ward, and J. E. Werler.
I am especially appreciativoef Elinor Auffenberg, whod onated her time to com-
pile a listo f Texas snake records fromth e Florida State Museum. Speciatlh anks also
to Carl Lieb and William Lamar, who have nevefra iled to respond to requests for in-
formation and other amenities.
I am forever in debt to Jerry Raun and Fred Gehlbach, who compilethde litera-
ture prior to 1967. They madem y job much easier. I owe much to David Kizirian
who scanned 95 percent of the 1967-82 literature and provided subject categories.
R. W. Axtell, R. Conant, R. W. McDiarmid, E.V . Malnate, and the late F. E.P otter
aided this project by solving problemso f distribution and ident~cationfo r various
amphibian and reptile species.
Photographs and/or slides wered onat~dby D, Barker, R. Bezy, J. T. Collins,
the late I. H. Conant, W. G. Degenhardt, W. ~, Lamar, C. M,
J. P. Scudday, J. W, Sites, R. A, Thomas, L.J . Vitt, J. E.W erler,
inal manuscript was typedb y Sally Kiml, ong before our office pur-
d processing equipment. She devotedm uch of her time to correcting
my errors, and I appreciate her patience and understanding.
During the period betweenth e first and second edition, several colleagu~sc on-
trib~tedn ew distribution^ records for the amphibians and reptiles of Texas. I am
pleased to ac~owledgteh eir help: C. M. Eckerman, D. H, Poley,M . J. and Jenna
.G reene, D. Hibbitts,
T, T.
LaDuc, W*W . Lamar, J. V,
R. E. Nelson, A. H. Price, J
R. K. Vau~hana,n d M. J. Whiting.
I am forever thankful to my wife MaryS. he spent many lonely evenings whiIle
worked on thef irst and second e~itionsW. ithout her ~ndnesasn d understanding,
this project wouldh ave never reached completion, Sheis ac~owledgedg ratefully
for someo f the line ~awingust ilized in the keys,
I sincerely thank Alan Chaney,w ho gave me permissiotno use and modify as
necess~yh,i s keys found in ~ eto ~ the~s e~ te~~of u~tee~s( u21s4 .900).