Sonora taylori (BOULENGER, 1894)

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Higher Taxa	Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Taylor’s Ground Snake S: Culebrilla de Taylor
Synonym	Contia taylori BOULENGER 1894 Chionactis taylorii — COPE 1900: 936 Sonora taylori — STEJNEGER & BARBOUR 1917: 92 Sonora taylori — STICKEL 1938: 184 Sonora taylori — STICKEL 1943 Sonora taylori — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945 Sonora semiannulata taylori — FROST & VAN DEVENDER 1979: 6 Sonora semiannulata — FROST 1983: 333.1 Sonora semiannulata taylori — DIXON 2000 Sonora semiannulata taylori — CROTHER et al. 2012 Sonora (Sonora) taylori — COX et al. 2018: 970
Distribution	USA (S Texas), Mexico (Tamaulipas ?) Type locality: Duval Co., Texas, and Nuevo Leon, Mexico, restricted to Duval County, Texas by Stickel 1943.
Reproduction	oviparous.
Types	Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.5.57–1946.1.5.5
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: This species is distinct from Sonora cincta, S. fasciata, S. straminea, S. aemula, S. annulata, S. occipitalis and S. palarostris by the lack of rostral or caudal adaptations. Sonora taylori can be potentially confused only with S. episcopa, with which it is either sympatric or narrowly allopatric. The S. semiannulata species group has been historically difficult to define using morphological characteristics, and in fact it was this lack of clear colour pattern or meristic characters delimiting species that led Frost and VanDevender (1979) to synonymize many different species and subspecies into S. semiannulata. However, our genetic data show clear reciprocal monophyly of S. episcopa and S. taylori. Perhaps the best way to distinguish S. episcopa from S. taylori is by geographic range (see below). Besides geographic range, Dixon and Werler (2005) suggest that S. taylori can be distinguished from S. episcopa based upon the presence of 13 midbody scale rows (compared to 14 or 15 in S. episcopa) (Cox et al. 2018: 970).
Comment	Distribution: Not in Nuevo León fide Nevárez-de los Reyes et al. 2016 (who consider it as part of S. semiannulata). Specimens from Tamaulipas may be S. taylori but Cox et al. 2018 did not have any DNa samples from that state so they state that the occurrence there has not been confirmed. Synonymy: Frost 1983 and Wallach et al. 2014: 681 listed this species as synonym of S. semiannulata.
Etymology	A patronimic after W. Taylor. It is likely to correspond to a William Taylor from the British Museum, collector of the type specimens.
References	Boulenger, George A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London, xi, 382 pp. - get paper here Cope, E.D. 1900. The crocodilians, lizards and snakes of North America. Ann. Rep. U.S. Natl. Mus. 1898: 153-1270 - get paper here Cox, Christian L.; Alison R. Davis Rabosky, Iris A. Holmes, Jacobo Reyes-Velasco, Corey E. Roelke, Eric N. Smith, Oscar Flores-Villela, Jimmy A. McGuire & Jonathan A. Campbell 2018. Synopsis and taxonomic revision of three genera in the snake tribe Sonorini. Journal of Natural History 52: 945-988 - get paper here Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92 Dixon, James R. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Texas, second edition. Texas A&M University Press, 421 pp. Frost D R 1983. Sonora semiannulata Baird and Girard. Ground snake. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 333: 1-4 - get paper here Frost, D. R. 1983. The relationships of the ground snakes (genus Sonora) in Baja California, Mexico. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 86: 31-37. - get paper here Frost, D. R., and T. R. Van Devender 1979. The relationship of the groundsnakes Sonora semiannulata and S. episcopa (Serpentes: Colubridae). Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ. 52: 1-9. - get paper here Mulaik, S. & D. Mulaik 1941. Variation in Sonora taylori Copeia 1941 (4): 263. - get paper here Smith, Hobart M. & Taylor, Edward H. 1945. An annotated checklist and key to the snakes of Mexico. Bull. US Natl. Mus. (187): iv + 1-239 - get paper here Stejneger, L.H., and T. Barbour 1917. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 4: i-iv, 1-125 - get paper here Stickel, W.H. 1943. The Mexican snakes of the genera Sonora and Chionactis with notes on the status of other colubrid genera. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 56: 109-128 - get paper here Stickel, William H. 1938. The snakes of the genus Sonora in the United States and Lower California. Copeia 1938 (4): 182-190 - get paper here
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