The Present Taxo-Serological Works in the Field or Herpetology at the institute Biologia Animal Cuyo University, Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

Since several years ago the precipitin immunological tests are utilized as a routine technique in the herpetological works of the Institute of Animal Biology, the Cuyo University, Mendoza, Argentina. ’l'he fitness of the method enables it to contribute very effectively to the solution of, or the adequate approach to, a number of phvletic or taxogenetic problems, which are difficult to solve by the accessible morphological evidence alone, 'l'he discriminating significance of the whole antigenic systems of the sera by means of (he immunological comparisons indicate. the progressive levels of the genetic ami taxonomic relationships, such as at the .subspecific or generic levels. It would be difficult, of course, to establish a rigid yardstick measuring in numerical terms both the phyletic (or genetic) and serological distances. But the repeated quantitative expression of the homo-heterologous precipitin reactions may provide a true biologically objective kind of evidence which is probably more natural than most of the diagnostic characters currently used in taxonomy. I wish to enumerate here a number of works being carried out at this time in our Laboratory, utilizing the Libby’s Photron- reflectomctric technique. They deal with different groups of Sauria and Anura, both from the Neotropical and Palearctic biotas.