Western Glossy Snake Arizona occidentalis  Blanchard, 1924

Taxonomic Comments:

Collins (1991 Herpetological Review 22(2): 42-43), in a peer-reviewed article, recommended that this previously defined, diagnosed, and allopatric taxon be recognized as a distinct species, a more conservative taxonomy than that in previous use. Collins (1997 SSAR Herpetological Circular 25: 1-40) presented this proposed change to his snake systematist group, composed of John E. Cadle, Brian I. Crother, Harry W. Greene, L. Lee Grismer, James A. MacMahon, James R. McCranie, and Samuel S. Sweet, and the majority of those individuals responding recommended that occidentalis be so recognized. Collins (1997) followed that recommendation. Liner (1994 SSAR Herpetological Circular 23: 1-113) also considered this taxon a species distinct from A. elegans, as proposed by Collins (1991 Herpetological Review 22(2): 42-43). Powell, Collins and Hooper (1998 A Key to the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence. vi + 131 pp.) recognized this lineage as a species distinct from A. elegans.