The question is almost an absurd one for several reasons, the biggest being that cheynei is a creation of taxonomists who try to decribe what has taken nature many millenia to accomplish. And from what I have read, cheynei and mcdowelli are not that different genetically, though the "pure" specimens look quite different from each other. But then chondros and Carpets look quite different but are evidently closely related.



Remember that by definition subspecies are our way of descibing different geographic populations within the same species where there is a zone of intergradation between the "pure" races. That said, intergrades are also natural.



We have had this discussion ad nauseum at the moreliapythons.com forum and there are enough opinions to go around. My feeling, shared by some and abhorred by others is that we should call animals here "Jungle type" or "Coastal type" to describe a "look" that we see as an ideal for that group, and obvious intergrades should be called such.



I would also venture a guess that in the next major taxonomic revision of Carpets, cheynei and mcdowelli will cease to be separate entities. Won't that confuse everyone but the snakes on the ground?
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Jim

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