A revision of the Ecuadorian snakes of the colubrid genus Atractus. Savage, J. M. Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 1960.
A revision of the Ecuadorian snakes of the colubrid genus Atractus [link]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
THE Neotropical snakes of the genus At).actus coinprise a series 01 closely rclated species that have differentiated into innunlerable local populations. Unforcuilately, the tendency among herpetologists has been to name as distinct species any population sample or single speciinen differing slightly from previously described forms. Consequently nearly all the rccognizcd species of Atract\textasciitilde\textasciitildeasre based upon small samples, uslially one indivitlual, without regard for intrapopulational or individual variation in supposedly distinguishing characteristics. The result of this tendency has I)r;en the description ol ap\textasciitilde\textasciitilderoxiinatel8y0 species of Att-actus. The large nun\textasciitildeber ol recognized forins and the lack of understanding concerning their limits have precluded any attempt to analyze the relationships within the genus. Because oC these factors, the natural populations of Al\textasciitildeactus remain ill-defined, conlusion exists as to the significance of their systematic characters, and the l\textasciitildeliylogenetic pattern within the group is unknown. The logical way to attack these problems in Atractus systematics would bc through a revisional study ol the entirc genus. Such a study, however, would require many inore specimens than presently available, and cannot be accomplishctl at this time. In view of this material limitation I have selected an alternate method of clarifying some of the intricacies of At\textasciitildeartzls classification. Rily approach has been to prepare an account of the gcrlus as it occurs within a given political region, the Republic of Ecuador, with the hope that thc information so accumulated might have wider implications when applied to Atractus from other regions. Ecuador was chosen becausc excellent series ol the genus froin that country are in the Anlerican Museunr ol Natural History, the Escuela Politccnica National, Ecuatlor, and the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. The choice has proven to be an opportune one in that the region under discussion is small enough so as not to support an unwieldy number of populations, but is varied cnough in physiography and climate to provide ecologic conditions suitable for considerable local differentiation. The basic aims of this report are: (I) to analyze the variation within Atractus populations in order to ascertain those characters of systematic significance, (2) to define the natural units within the genus as they occur in Ecuador, and (3) to determine the relationships between the recognized populations.
@article{savage_revision_1960,
	title = {A revision of the {Ecuadorian} snakes of the colubrid genus {Atractus}},
	url = {https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/56356/mp112.pdf?sequence=1},
	abstract = {THE Neotropical snakes of the genus At).actus coinprise a series 01
closely rclated species that have differentiated into innunlerable local
populations. Unforcuilately, the tendency among herpetologists has been
to name as distinct species any population sample or single speciinen differing
slightly from previously described forms. Consequently nearly all the
rccognizcd species of Atract{\textasciitilde}{\textasciitilde}asre based upon small samples, uslially one
indivitlual, without regard for intrapopulational or individual variation
in supposedly distinguishing characteristics. The result of this tendency has
I)r;en the description ol ap{\textasciitilde}{\textasciitilde}roxiinatel8y0 species of Att-actus. The large
nun{\textasciitilde}ber ol recognized forins and the lack of understanding concerning
their limits have precluded any attempt to analyze the relationships within
the genus. Because oC these factors, the natural populations of Al{\textasciitilde}actus
remain ill-defined, conlusion exists as to the significance of their systematic
characters, and the l{\textasciitilde}liylogenetic pattern within the group is unknown.
The logical way to attack these problems in Atractus systematics would
bc through a revisional study ol the entirc genus. Such a study, however,
would require many inore specimens than presently available, and cannot
be accomplishctl at this time. In view of this material limitation I have
selected an alternate method of clarifying some of the intricacies of At{\textasciitilde}artzls
classification. Rily approach has been to prepare an account of the gcrlus as
it occurs within a given political region, the Republic of Ecuador, with
the hope that thc information so accumulated might have wider implications
when applied to Atractus from other regions. Ecuador was chosen
becausc excellent series ol the genus froin that country are in the Anlerican
Museunr ol Natural History, the Escuela Politccnica National, Ecuatlor,
and the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. The choice has
proven to be an opportune one in that the region under discussion is small
enough so as not to support an unwieldy number of populations, but is
varied cnough in physiography and climate to provide ecologic conditions
suitable for considerable local differentiation.
The basic aims of this report are: (I) to analyze the variation within
Atractus populations in order to ascertain those characters of systematic
significance, (2) to define the natural units within the genus as they occur
in Ecuador, and (3) to determine the relationships between the recognized
populations.},
	number = {112},
	urldate = {2016-11-17TZ},
	journal = {Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan},
	author = {Savage, Jay Mathers},
	year = {1960},
	pages = {1--86}
}

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