Systematic Status of the Colubrid Snake, Leptodeira discolor Gunther

At the time of completing my study of the genus Leptodeira (1958) I had seen no specimens of Leptodeira discolor, a species described by Günther in 1860 and subsequently referred to the genus Hypsiglena by Cope (1887), Boulenger (1894), and Mocquard (1908), and to the genus Pseudoleptodeira by Taylor (1938). Günther's description was based on two syntypes (British Museum of Natural History numbers 1946.1.23.67 and 68) collected in Oaxaca, México, by Auguste Sallé. Information concerning the scutellation and coloration of the syntypes was provided by J. C. Battersby; in my revisionary study ( op. cit. ) this information was included in a short discussion of the species, which was referred to incerta sedis until specimens could be examined and the relationships of the species determined. Through the courtesy of John M. Legler of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, I have been able to study a specimen of Leptodeira discolor obtained six miles southeast of Tamazulápam, Oaxaca, México, by J. R. Alcorn on June 22, 1955. Superficial examination of the external characters of this snake shows a striking resemblance to Leptodeira .