CHECKLIST OF REPTILES OF MEXICO 3 



with it, almost inevitably, occasional overzealous reduction of species 

 to subspecies. Such changes are made mthout due demand for facts, 

 but instead with speculations that often merely serve as an excuse to 

 tamper with an accepted arrangement that may be equally as plausible. 



One of the most exasperating tasks has been the unraveling of certain 

 purely nomenclatorial knots. Several names, for example, are of 

 controversial orthography. Worthy of special mention are Agkistro- 

 don vs. Ancistrodon, Cnemidophorus tessellatus vs. C. tesselatus, Cory- 

 tophanes vs. Corythophanes, and Kinosternon vs. Cinosternon. Opinion 

 3G of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 

 interprets the permission given by Article 19 to correct any "error 

 of transcription" to mean also "error of transliteration," whether 

 the original author was aware of his error or not. By such procedure, 

 the names Ancistrodon, tessellatus, Corythophanes, and Cinosternon 

 would be recommended. On the other hand, Moore, Weller, and 

 Knight (Journ. Paleont., vol. 16, 1942, pp. 250-261) maintain with 

 excellent reason that only in very clear-cut and exceptional cases is 

 any modification of the original orthography of a generic name 

 justified. Their view is strengthened by Blackwelder, Knight, and 

 Sabrosky (Science, vol. 108, 1948, pp. 37-38). Maintenance of original 

 form would perpetuate Agkistrodon, tesselatus, Kinosternon, and 

 Corytophanes. Since the proper procedure is not universally or even 

 generally agreed upon, we see little advantage in deviation from 

 currently accepted form untU some means of real standardization is 

 provided by the International Commission on Zoological Nomen- 

 clature. 



For the first time in these checklists we here adopt the practice of 

 placing a comma between scientific name and author in citations of all 

 references except the original. 



We wish to acknowledge the assistance of W. Leslie Burger in the 

 laborious task of checking and rechecking various points in the 

 manuscript, and in criticizing certain parts, and of Dr. Doris M. 

 Cochran, zoologist, division of reptiles and amphibians. United States 

 National Museum, who devoted much time to curatorial duties 

 connected with the voluminous collection and in making available for 

 study the National Museum herpetological collections. We are grate- 

 ful likewise for the corrections and improvements suggested by Dr. 

 D. F. Hoffmeister, Karl P. Schmidt, and Dr. Frederick Shannon. The 

 Graduate Research Boards of the University of Illinois and the 

 University of Kansas have generously provided financial support for 

 research and clerical work involved in completion of the present 

 project, and the Walter Rathbone Bacon Scholarship of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution furnished a substantial sum for travel and research 

 in Mexico. 



