Posted by:
BRhaco
at Sun Aug 19 15:03:10 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by BRhaco ]
I'm more of a splitter myself. when I look at bulls, both physiologically and ecologically, I can see that they might warrant their own species, Pituophis sayi. Failing that, to me they would be more closely allied to the pines (melanoleucus)-same heavy head structure, similar fossorial lifestyle, same semi-specialization on pocket gopher prey (in many cases). This despite the fact that their range never intersects that of any pine snake, but does mesh with gophers across a broad front.
If you look at P. ruthveni, it's hard to imagine a more perfect "missing link" between pines and bulls!
Brad Chambers
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