The Horned Toads of the coronatum Group

Abstract

D URING the past year the San Diego Society of Natural History series of reptiles has been augmented by material from northern Lower California collected by Messrs. Chas. F. Harbison and Curtis W. Brown. Included were a number of horned toads from between San Quintin and Punta Prieta (Lat. 290 N.), an area previously unrepresented in collections. These specimens close the last extensive gap in the territorial distribution of available specimens of the conoratum group between Kennett, California, on the north, and Cape San Lucas on the south. It therefore appears opportune to examine this series to determine the validity of the several names which have been proposed for these coastal horned toads, and particularly the relationship between coronatum and blainvillii, the forms found at the southern tip of Lower California, and in upper California, respectively. The following forms have been described: 1835 Agama (Phrynosoma) coronata Blainville, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 4: 284. Type locality Californie (generally assumed to be the Cape Region of Lower California). Type specimen in the Natural History Museum at Paris; collected by P. E. Botta. 1839 Phrynosoma blainvillii Gray, Zool. Beechey's Voyage: 96. Type locality California' (generally assumed to be the vicinity of San Diego, California). Type specimen in the British Museum; presented to the museum by H. de Blainville. 1893 Phrynosoma cerroense Stejneger, N. Amer. Fauna, No. 7: 187 (foot note). Type locality Cerros (Cedros) Island. Type specimen USNM 11977; collected by L. Belding. 1894 Phrynosoma frontalis Van Denburgh, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., Ser. 2, 4: 296. Type locality, Bear Valley, San Benito County, California. Type specimen, Stanford 93; collected by W. W. Price. 1921 Phrynosoma schmidti Barbour, Proc. N. Eng. Zool. Club, 7: 113. Type locality Cerros (Cedros) Island. Type specimen MCZ 15142; collected by W. W. Brown. 1922 Phrynosoma nelsoni Schmidt, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Ilist., 46: 666. Type locality, San Quintin, Lower California. Type specimen, AMNH 37585; collected by E. W. Nelson and A. E. Goldman. 1922 Phrynosoma jamesi Schmidt, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 46: 668. Type locality, San Bartolome, Lower California. Type specimen, USNM 64450; collected by H. Townsend. 1932 Phrynosoma ochoterenai Terron, Anales del Inst. Biol., 3: 109. Type locality, Tecate, Lower California. Type specimen from the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Mexico, D. F.;T collected by J. M. Gallegos.