brdbt brdlf c7">laticeps

inexpectatus tunganus xanthi elegans tamadoensis oshimensis stimsonii barbouri marginatus latiscutatus Distribution E U. S.,
except
Fla. and
N New
England Most of
E U. S.,
except
N tier
of states SE U. S. W Szechwan
(in N
China) SE China SW China,
Formosa,
Pesca-
dores I. Indo-
China Amami-
gunto
I. Ishigaki-
jima, Riu
Kiu I. Amami-
shima Okinawa Japan,
(main I.) Juvenal Pattern 5 lined 5 or 7 lined 5 or 7 lined 5 lined 5 lined 5 lined 5 lined 5 lined 7 lined ...... 5 lined 5 lined Max. snout-vent
  length
  in mm. 80 130 89 81 76 96 ...... 99 63 66 93 80 Postnasal present present present present present absent present absent absent present absent present Postmental 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 No. scale rows 28-30 30-32 30-32 28 22-24 26-28 ...... 26-28 26 22 26 26 (or 24) Lateral postanal
  scales undiffer-
entiated undiffer-
entiated undiffer-
entiated undiffer-
entiated differ-
entiated keeled ...... keeled keeled ..... keeled keeled Large scales  on
  back of thigh absent absent absent present present present
irregular ...... absent enlarged;
regular absent absent absent Median
  subcaudals widened widened not
widened widened widened widened ...... widened not
widened widened widened widened

The American Eumeces laticeps and E. inexpectatus seem to be more specialized than E. fasciatus and might have been derived from it or from a common ancestor differing but little from the modern fasciatus. Both differ from fasciatus in having more scale rows. E. laticeps also differs in having eight instead of seven supralabials and in having the median subcaudal scales greatly widened, in having intercalated plates on the outer side of the fourth toe nearly to the ultimate phalanx, posterior supralabial low and elongate, young sometimes seven-lined instead of five-lined, and especially in much larger size, stocky build, and in early loss of striped pattern. E. inexpectatus differs in having the median subcaudals not at all enlarged, and in having the dorsolateral stripes a little more widely separated from the midline.

Eumeces fasciatus and its relatives present a curious exception to Jordan’s Rule, which states that the nearest relatives of any given species are to be found neither in the same area nor in a remote one, but in an adjacent region separated by a barrier. E. fasciatus is absent from almost all of Florida; otherwise its range overlaps most of the ranges of both