Tomodactylus nitidus orarius Dixon
Tomodactylus nitidus orarius Dixon, Texas Jour. Sci., 9:392, December, 1957.—4.5 miles southwest of Tecolapa, Colima, México.
La Placita (3); Pómaro.
These specimens, referred to Tomodactylus petersi by Duellman (1954b:5), were included in T. nitidus orarius by Dixon (1957:392). Color notes based on living individuals from Tecolapa, Colima (UMMZ 114312 and 116922), are: gray above mottled with brown; venter dirty white; anterior and posterior surfaces of thighs bright yellow; iris pale golden (Pl. 4, Fig. 2). The call is a soft "braa" usually followed by three high notes: "braaa-eep-ee-eep." In Michoacán this subspecies has been found only in the coastal region and the lower foothills of the Sierra de Coalcomán, an area in which it replaces Tomodactylus nitidus petersi. This is the only Tomodactylus known to inhabit coastal lowlands.
Tomodactylus nitidus petersi Duellman
Tomodactylus petersi Duellman, Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 560:5, October 22, 1954.—Coalcomán, Michoacán, México.
Tomodactylus nitidus petersi, Dixon, Texas Jour. Sci., 9:390, December, 1957.
Aguililla; Apatzingán (8); Cascada Tzararacua: Charapendo (5); Coalcomán (5); 18 km. E of Dos Aguas (6); El Sabino (5); La Playa (2); Jiquilpan; Uruapan (2); Volcán Jorullo; Zamora.
In life, specimens from Apatzingán (UMMZ 114308-9) varied in dorsal color from grayish tan to pale brown; the dorsal markings were olive green. The thighs and groin were yellowish orange; the iris was pale golden, and the vocal sac was purplish gray (Pl. 5, Fig. 1). Measurements for 13 adult males from the Tepalcatepec Valley are: snout-vent length, 21.9-26.8 (24.3); tibia length, 8.4-9.9 (9.3); head width, 7.2-9.2 (7.8); head length, 7.6-8.7 (8.2).
At Apatzingán and Charapendo in the Tepalcatepec Valley males were found calling from rocks and bushes in open arid tropical scrub forest. The call, a triple note "peep-ee-eep," is repeated once every 90 to 135 seconds. Tomodactylus nitidus petersi probably ranges throughout the Tepalcatepec Valley and surrounding foothills. Dixon (1957:392) referred the specimens from Zamora, Jiquilpan, and Uruapan to this subspecies. Uruapan is near the lower limits of the pine forest on the slopes of the Cordillera Volcánica; Zamora and Jiquilpan are on a low part of the Mexican Plateau southeast of Lago de Chapala.