Geophis rostralis (Jan)

Wilson, Larry David & Townsend, Josiah H., 2007, A checklist and key to the snakes of the genus Geophis (Squamata: Colubridae: Dipsadinae), with commentary on distribution and conservation, Zootaxa 1395, pp. 1-31 : 17

38. Geophis rostralis (Jan)

E(lapoides) rostralis Jan (in Jan & Sordelli) 1865: plate 2, figure 2. Geophis rostralis, Bocourt, 1883: 533 .

R (habdosoma) rostrale, Cope 1885: 385 .

Catostoma rostrale, Amaral, 1929: 192 .

Geophis dubius, Downs 1967: 84 .

Holotype. Zoologisches Museum, Berlin ( ZMB) 6407 ( Downs 1967).

Type­locality. Unknown.

Distribution. Apparently restricted to upper elevations of the Sierra Madre del Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Species group. dubius ( Downs 1967) .

Systematic references. Bocourt (1883), Webb & Fulger (1957), Smith (1959), Bogert & Porter (1966b), Downs (1967), Smith & Pérez­Higareda (1991).

Remarks. There is disagreement about the specific status of this taxon, which was originally described based on a color plate with no indication of a type specimen or locality. Various authors have recognized G. rostralis as a distinct species (Bogert and Porter 1966; Campbell et al. 1983), while others ( Smith 1959; Downs 1967; Pérez­Higareda & Smith 1988; Smith & Pérez­Higareda; 1991) maintain that this species is conspecific with G. dubius .