PRINTED IN
THE STATE PRINTING PLANT
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1960
28-2494
A New Subspecies of Lizard,
Cnemidophorus sacki, from Michoacán, México
BY
WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN
The systematic status of the populations of lizards assignable to Cnemidophorus sacki in western México (Sonora southward to Jalisco) has been reviewed in detail by Zweifel (1959, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, 117 (2):57-116), who stated that the use of the specific name sacki for the western populations rests upon a reasonable, but as yet unproved, assumption that intergradation occurs. Although Zweifel examined specimens of the nominal subspecies from the upper Balsas Basin, he did not study specimens from the intervening area—the Tepalcatepec Valley in Michoacán.
Field studies and the examination of large series of preserved specimens of Cnemidophorus from the [Tepalcatepec] Valley show the presence of Cnemidophorus sacki in the region between the ranges of C. sacki sacki in the upper Balsas Basin and C. sacki occidentalis in Jalisco and southern Nayarit. Furthermore, the populations of sacki inhabiting the Tepalcatepec Valley have characters of scutellation and coloration that distinguish them from other described subspecies of sacki. In recognition of the important contributions to the systematics of the genus Cnemidophorus made by Dr. Richard G. Zweifel, I propose that the subspecies of Cnemidophorus sacki in the Tepalcatepec Valley be named as follows:
Cnemidophorus sacki zweifeli new subspecies