Posted by:
Sunherp
at Thu Feb 17 16:56:53 2011 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Sunherp ]
with what's been posted by Gerry and Doug. L. pyromelana has a much thinner neck, making the head more distinct. Also, pyromelana has a distinctly more "squared" snout than triangulum.
You should be aware, though, that the subspecies infralabialis has been sunk into nominate pyromelana (L. p. pyromelana) because it cannot be reliable distinguished from it morphologically or genetically.
Also, regarding L. t. taylori: There are some populations which strongly resemble L. pyromelana. This includes a light colored snout and high ring counts. These animals are well known from several areas not too far from Salt Lake City. Such animals were, for a time, considered possible hybrids between L. triangulum and L. pyromelana (or intergrades if it were common enough, making the two conspecific). However, both morphological and genetic data have squashed that hypotheses, and it's now clear that the superficial resemblance is due to selective pressure toward a particular phenotype.
-Cole
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I agree - Sunherp, Thu Feb 17 16:56:53 2011