Systematics of the striped whipsnake, Masticophis taeniatus (Hallowell) /
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1990.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | The desert striped whipsnake, Masticophis taeniatus consists of two species. Populations of striped whipsnakes in southern Texas and eastern Mexico known as M. t. schotti, M. t. ruthveni, and M. t. australis are not conspecific with M. t. taeniatus and M. t. girardi of the western USA and central Mexico. Whipsnake populations in south central Mexico known as M. t. australis are synonymized with M. t. ruthveni. The southern and eastern populations are described as Masticophis schotti and the western whipsnake populations remain M. taeniatus. These two species differ in a number of morphological character states such as, maxillary tooth number, preanal dorsal scale row frequency, number of apical scale pits and several color pattern character states. A fixed difference across a contact zone in central Texas involving the supernatant amino-acid transferase (S-Aat-A) locus exists between M. t. girardi and M. s. schotti. The Sonoran whipsnake, M. bilineatus shows little geographic variation in morphological character states. Despite similarities in morphology and distribution it does not appear to interbreed with M. taeniatus or M. schotti. The diets of all three species were examined in this study. Both M. taeniatus and M. bilineatus fed on lizards with a frequency > 86%. Mammals made up 25% of the diet of M. schotti, with lizards making up the remaining 75%. Little ontogenetic variation in prey composition was found in M. taeniatus. Significant sexual dimorphism in body size was found in M. bilineatus and M. taeniatus, with males being larger. Despite this female M. taeniatus ate prey of the same absolute size. Juvenile M. taeniatus ate relatively larger prey than did adults. Clutch sizes were largest for M. schotti and smallest M. bilineatus. Average egg volume per clutch was largest for the former. Clutch size was significantly positively correlated with female body size in M. taeniatus. Partial correlation analysis of the residuals of three measures of egg size on residual clutch size was not significant in M. taeniatus. |
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| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: Wildlife and fisheries sciences." |
| Physical Description: | xi, 161 leaves : illustrations ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |