HERPETOLOGY OF ZUNI MOUNTAINS — GEHLBACH 309 



Pituophis melanoleucus affinis Hallowell x P. m. deserticola Stejneger 



In the Zuni region, gopher snakes present a situation resembhng 

 the one already described for Phrynosoma douglassi. Although the 

 type locality of P. m. affinis is probably about five miles from the 

 Pueblo of Zuni (see Woodhouse, 1854, p. 34), the gopher snake popu- 

 lation inhabiting this area actually contains intermediates between 

 P. m. affinis and P. m. deserticola. Ivlauber (1947, p. 41) reviewed 

 the circumstances of Hallowell's (1854, p. 146) original restriction of 

 type locaHty to "near the Zuni River, New Mexico." Smith and 

 Taylor (1950b, p. 359) further restricted it to Zuni, McKinley County, 

 New Mexico, apparently overlooking Woodhouse's statement con- 

 cerning the provenance of the type of P. m. aijinis. 



When Klauber (1947, p. 44) noted that P. m. affinis from the 

 Flagstaff-Gallup area was atypical, he seemingly did not consider 

 that intergradation between it and P. m. deserticola might extend that 

 far south. Instead, he believed the blend zone to be in the vicinity 

 of the Hopi villages east to Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, on the basis 

 of intermediate specimens available to him. It now appears that the 

 P. m. affinis x P. m. deserticola zone is much broader. Considering the 

 characters cited by Klauber (1947), examples of both P. m. affinis and 

 P. m. deserticola have been taken in San Juan and McKinley Counties 

 (Gehlbach, 1956, p. 370), and intermediates come from the Zunis and 

 33 miles southeast of Laguna, Valencia County (UMMZ 121490). 

 Thus, at least part of the intergrade area extends south and east of 

 the San Juan Basin. 



Zuni specimens are intergrades on the basis of color and body and 

 tail blotch counts (table 9) . These characters are intermediate when 

 compared to those given by lOauber (1947, table 4) for P. m. affinis 

 and P. m. deserticola. With the exception of two individuals, reddish- 

 brown anterior dorsal blotches predominate in the sample, but the 

 influence of P. m. deserticola is invariably present in the black tail 

 blotches. Two specimens, one with reddish and one with black 

 anterior blotches, have these markings interconnected so that the 

 light interspaces appear as isolated spots. Specimens least typical 

 of P. m. deserticola, in having the highest number of dorsal blotches, 

 have black blotches, thus indicating their intermediate status. In 

 view of the sample as a whole, intergradation in every character may 

 be observed, but P. m. affinis influence is probably the strongest 

 overall. 



Only Thamnophis elegans and Crotalus viridis were more evident 

 than gopher snakes in the Zunis. P. melanoleucus was found usually 

 in the lower two life belts, being least abundant in Roughlands 

 associations. More specimens were taken and observed in saltbush- 

 sage than in any other vegetational type. In the Roughlands life 



