Part 14

=Dermophis mexicanus mexicanus= (Dumeril and Bibron).--Natives at Chinaja know caecilians, which they call dos cabezas. This species has been taken in Tabasco and northern Chiapas. Its occurrence in southern El Peten is expected. Less likely, the caecilian known to the natives at Chinaja is Gymnopis oligozona, which is known from Finca Volcan on the southern slopes of the valley of the Rio Cahabon in Alta Verapaz.

=Gastrophryne elegans= (Boulenger).--This small fossorial frog is known from Piedras Negras (Taylor and Smith, 1945:604), 12 miles east of Yaxha (Stuart, 1934:7), and Tikal (Stuart, 1958:18), all in northern and central El Peten. Two specimens in the collection of the University of Kansas are from 28 kilometers northeast of Campur, Alta Verapaz. Probably the species ranges throughout the forested lowlands of northern Alta Verapaz and El Peten.

=Mabuya brachypoda= Taylor.--The absence of this widespread lizard in our collections cannot be explained. Probably it occurs in southern El Peten, for it is known in northern and central El Peten and in Alta Verapaz.

=Dendrophidion vinitor= Smith.--This snake is known from Piedras Negras, El Peten and from various localities in Alta Verapaz; it is an inhabitant of humid forest and should occur in southern El Peten.

=Elaphe triaspis mutabilis= (Cope).--The subspecies E. triaspis mutabilis is known from Alta Verapaz and E. triaspis triaspis from the Yucatan Peninsula, British Honduras, and Uaxactun in northern El Peten. Because of the much higher degree of resemblance between the faunas of southern El Peten and Alta Verapaz as compared with southern El Peten and Yucatan, E. triaspis mutabilis would be expected to occur in southern El Peten.

=Ninia diademata nietoi= Burger and Werler.--This snake is known from Tikal and from Alta Verapaz; it is a small cryptophile that probably occurs in southern El Peten.

=Oxyrhophus petola aequifasciatus= Werner.--This snake, which probably is conspecific with Oxyrhophus baileyi in southern Veracruz, Mexico, is known from Tikal, British Honduras, and Alta Verapaz; it is expected in southern El Peten.

=Pliocercus elapoides salvini= Mueller.--This species is widespread in the Atlantic lowlands of southern Mexico and northern Central America; the subspecies P. elapoides salvini occurs in Alta Verapaz and probably in southern El Peten.

=Rhadinaea decorata decorata= (Guenther).--This is another small cryptophile that is widespread on the Atlantic lowlands from Mexico to Panama; it definitely is expected at places like Chinaja in southern El Peten.

=Scaphiodontophis annulatus= (Dumeril and Bibron).--Three subspecies of Scaphiodontophis annulatus are recognized in northern Central America: S. annulatus annulatus from Alta Verapaz, S. annulatus hondurensis from northern Honduras, and S. annulatus carpicinctus from Piedras Negras and Tikal in El Peten and from British Honduras. This rare and highly variable species probably occurs in southern El Peten.

=Tantilla schistosa schistosa= (Bocourt).--This widespread species in Central America is known from several localities in Alta Verapaz and almost certainly occurs in southern El Peten.

=Tropidodipsas sartori sartori= Cope.--This fossorial species has been collected in northern El Peten and in Alta Verapaz. The natives at Chinaja described to me a coral having orange rings on a black body that likely was this species.

=Micrurus elegans veraepacis= Schmidt.--This species has been collected at various localities in Alta Verapaz and in Chiapas, inhabits areas like those in southern El Peten, and probably occurs there.

SUMMARY

A study of the amphibians and reptiles in the rainforests of southern El Peten, Guatemala, reveals the presence of 78 species; an additional 13 species probably occur there. In this tropical area having a high amount of rainfall most of the species of amphibians and reptiles have extensive ranges in the wet forests on the Atlantic lowlands of southern Mexico and northern Central America; some species that more frequently are found in sub-humid forests also occur.

Ecologically the fauna is divided into five major habitats--aquatic, aquatic margin, fossorial, terrestrial, and arboreal. Forty-two per cent of the 78 species are wholly or partly arboreal. The fauna is most closely related to that in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, but includes many species that occur in the Tikal-Uaxactun area in northeastern Guatemala.

Eleutherodactylus rostralis (Werner) and E. rhodopis (Cope) are redefined and their relationships are suggested. The color phases of Dryadophis melanolomus laevis and D. m. alternatus are discussed; Dryadophis sanguiventris Taylor is synonymized with Dryadophis melanolomus alternatus (Bocourt).

The breeding habits, eggs, and tadpoles of the hylid frogs Hyla ebraccata and Phyllomedusa callidryas taylori are described, as are the eggs and juveniles of Laemanctus deborrei.

LITERATURE CITED

BAYLOR, E. R. AND STUART, L. C.

1961. A new race of Bufo valliceps from Guatemala. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 74:195-202, August 11.

BOGERT, C. M. AND OLIVER, J. A.

1945. A preliminary analysis of the herpetofauna of Sonora. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 83:297-426, March 30.

BROCCHI, P.

1881-1883 Etude des batraciens de l'Amerique Centrale. Mission scientifique au Mexique. Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 3 (2):1-122, pls. 1-21.

DUELLMAN, W. E.

1958. A review of the frogs of the genus Syrrhophus in western Mexico. Occas. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 594:1-15, pls. 1-3, June 6.

1960. A distributional study of the amphibians of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., 13:21-72, August 16.