Richard--



I remember you mentioning this a while ago, but I've forgotten what, exactly, the situation was. So I'm wondering: what's your evidence that there are two separate species involved? What were the objections the reviewers gave? And where's the paper (going to be? a quick check didn't turn in up in the Biological Abstracts search engine) published?



Also, while checking for your paper, I came across this, which should be interesting on the off chance you're not already aware of it:



`Title: Mitochondrial variation in sharp-tailed snakes (Contia tenuis): Evidence of a cryptic species.

Author, Editor, Inventor: Feldman-Chris-R {a}; Spicer-Greg-S

Author Address: {a} Department of Biology, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA; E-Mail: elgaria@biology.usu.edu, USA

Source: Journal-of-Herpetology. [print] December 2002 2002; 36 (4): 648-655.

Publication Year: 2002

Document Type: Article-

ISSN (International Standard Serial Number): 0022-1511

Language: English

Abstract: We examined genetic variation and structure in mitochondrial DNA sequences of sharp-tailed snakes (Contia tenuis) from California and southern Oregon. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses distinguish two mitochondrial lineages: a north coast clade restricted to cool evergreen forest along the Pacific Coast; and an interior/south clade widespread throughout California. The southern limit of the north coast clade is congruent with that of several other vertebrate taxa, a historical pattern consistent with a long-term marine embayment. We interpret additional phylogeographic pattern as resulting from either gene flow or incomplete lineage sorting. Genetic, distributional, ecological, and morphological data suggest that north coast and interior/south mitochondrial lineages of C. tenuis are distinct at the species level.'



Patrick Alexander

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