SYSTEMATICS OF THE COMMON KINGSNAKE, LAMPROPELTIS GETULUS (LINNAEUS) 1 RICHARD M. BLANEY Department of Biology, West Virginia State College Institute, West Virginia 25112 CONTENTS ABSTRACT 47 INTRODUCTION 48 METHODS AND PROCEDURES 49 THE GENUS l^MP/?OP£ir/SFITZINGER 49 LAMPROPELTIS GETULUS (UNNA¥A}S) 50 VARIATION 51 Individual Variation 51 Ontogenetic Variation 51 Sexual Variation 52 Geographic Variation 53 RECOGNITION OF INFRASPECIFIC DIVISIONS 64 KE Y TO THE SUBSPECIES OF ADULT Z.^MP/?OP£ir/S GET W,i7S 65 The getulus Complex 67 Lampropeltis getulus getulus (Linnaeus) 67 Lampropeltis getulus floridana Blanchard 68 The splendida Complex 75 Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki Stejneger 75 Lampropeltis getulus niger (Yarrow) 78 Relationships with the getulus Complex 80 Lampropeltis getulus splendida (Baird and Girard) 84 Lampropeltis getulus nigritus Zweifel and Norris 88 The californiae Complex 90 Lampropeltis getulus californiae (Blainville) 90 Relationships with the splendida Complex 94 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 96 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 101 LITERATURE CITED 101 ABSTRACT The genus Lampropeltis and the species L. getulus are defined and relationships are discussed. Individual, ontogenetic, sexual and geographic vsiriation have been ana-lyzed in L. getulus. The degree of differentiation among all populations ena-bles the recognition of local populations, microgeographic races, subspecies and subspecies complexes within L. getulus. Three subspecies complexes are recognized on the basis of pattern, hemipenial morphology, and intergradation— the getu-lus complex, the splendida complex, and the californiae complex. Four subspecies are recognized within the splendida complex— Z.^. splendida, L.g. nigritus, L.g. holbrooki, and L.g. niger. Three microgeographic races of L.g. holbrooki are distinguished on the basis of pattern. L.g. splendida is considered to be closest to the ancestral stock of the species. L.g. nigritus is an immediate derivative of L.g. splendida by a melamistic reduction in pattern. L.g. holbrooki differentiated from the primitive L.g. splendida stock by a reduction in the number of dorsal scale rows, and L.g. niger evolved from L.g. holbrooki by a process of pattern neoteny. Within the getulus complex, two sub-species are recognized— Z.^. getulus and EDITORIAL COMMITTEE FOR THIS PAPER: DR. WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN, Curator, Division of Herpetology, Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66044 DR. WILMER W. TANNER, Professor, Department of Zoology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84601
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