Distribution of the Subspecies of Sceloporus undulatus (Reptilia: Iguanidae) in Oklahoma

Abstract

Examination of 1366 specimens of Sceloporus undulatus from Oklahoma revealed the presence of four subspecies in the state. Sceloporus undulatus erythrocheilus is restricted to the Black Mesa area of Cimarron County, S. u. garmani ranges over the prairie areas of Oklahoma, S. u. consobrinus is restricted to the southwestern corner of the state and S. u. hyacinthinus occurs in the eastern forested regions of Oklahoma. Intergradation between S. u. garmani and S. u. hyacinthinus occurs in a broad zone at the prairie-forest ecotone and S. u. garmani and S. u. consobrinus intergrade in southwest Oklahoma. No evidence of inter- gradation between S. u. garmani and S. u. erythrocheilus was found. The type locality of S. u. consobrinus as restricted to an area in Beckham County, Oklahoma, is too far northwest and lies in an area inhabited by S. u. garmani. Since the description of Sceloporus consobrinus by Baird and Girard in 1852, many records of the occurrence of Sceloporus undulatus (Latreille) in Oklahoma have appeared in the zoological literature. Unfortunately, these records are generally of little use in defining the ranges of the subspecies which occur in Oklahoma, mainly due to the revolution in nomenclature in this group since 1938. Few studies have treated the distribution of the subspecies of Sceloporus undulatus over the entire state, and those which have were handicapped by a lack of material. In Smith's (1938) monograph of Sceloporus undulatus he analyzed specimens from only 21 localities in Oklahoma. There are several hundred localities represented in the collections on which this study is based. In this study the geographic distribution of the subspecies of Scelo- porus undulatus in Oklahoma has been analyzed. The careful and com- plete delineation of such ranges and integradation zones is prerequisite to any definitive study of the zoogeography of an area (Smith, 1956), and such syntheses not only interest zoogeographers, but form part of the conspectus of the animal kingdom which is the basis for all of the zoological sciences, (Schmidt, 1953).