Even though it seems that almost ANYTHING is possible when it comes to certain things in nature, nobody even knows for absolute certainty if the two herpetologists Van Denburgh and Slevin weren't simply out to make a big name for themselves by "claiming" that they actually found this animal there on Isla Santa Catalina in 1921. The island alone is 85 miles from the coast of mainland Mexico to the east, and there at the coast would be nigrita x californiae phenotypes and splendida x nigrita phenotypes according to any known range maps I have ever seen. And beyond that around an additional 70 to 90 miles inland from that before the more bonified splendida phenotypes would be found just beyond the mountain range.

For all anyone really knows it could have simply been an odd aberrant splendida found hundreds of miles from the island, and claimed it was captured there. I mean who could DISPROVE it?..LOL!. I'm certainly not saying it happened this way, but just pointing out it easily COULD if they wanted to pull a hoax on the scientific world.

A major storm(flotsam debrit), or some other means of transplantation could have also made this possible too I guess, who the heck knows. Nobody will ever know I guess until another one like it, or even a normal splendida looking animal is actually found there to prove or disprove it's possible legendary existence there. To me, it does seem sort of a stretch though, but we all know crazy stuff does happen quite often on this planet..LOL!



~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"


serpentinespecialties.webs.com

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