Abstract
Leptodeira is one of the most widespread and taxonomically problematic snake taxa in the Americas. Here we describe a new species of Leptodeira from the Andes of southern Ecuador based on morphological and molecular data. The new species is geographically close and morphologically similar to L. ornata and L. larcorum, from which it can be distinguished by having smaller dorsal body blotches, a longer tail, and shorter spines on the hemipenial body. The shortest genetic distances between the new species and its congeners are 0.02 (16S), 0.05 (cytb), and 0.18 (ND4). The new species is restricted to the Jubones River Basin in southern Ecuador, an area of endemism for other reptile species. Our phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data also supports recognition of the names L. larcorum (restricted to Peru) for "L. septentrionalis larcorum", and L. ornata for populations of "L. s. ornata"from central and eastern Panama, western Colombia, and western Ecuador. However, some samples of "L. s. ornata"from Panama and Costa Rica, as well as the new species described herein, are not included within or more closely related to L. ornata, which is sister to the clade (L. bakeri, L. ashmeadii).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 357-380 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Journal | Zootaxa |
| Volume | 4895 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 16 Dec 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Magnolia Press.
Funding
We are indebted to Alan Resetar (FMNH), Pablo Venegas (CORBIDI), and Evaristo López (MUSA) for allowing access to their museum collections and to Roy Santa Cruz for taking data of MUSA specimens. Fieldwork by JCSN, VP, and EC was supported by Museo de Zoología, Universidad del Azuay. CK thanks the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), the Alexander Koenig Stiftung (AKS) and the Alexander Koenig Gesellschaft (AKG) for financial support, and Pablo Venegas, Alfredo Beraún, Antonio Garcia Bravo, Erick Hoyos Granda, Jorge Novoa Cova, and Manuel Palacios Panta for assistance during fieldwork in Peru. Morris Flecks and Claudia Etzbauer (both ZFMK) helped with photos and laboratory analyses at ZFMK, respectively. Julio Carrión and Claudia Terán helped with photos and laboratory work at QCAZ, respectively. Verónica Urgiles helped with analysis of genetic distances. Laboratory work of samples from Ecuador was funded by a grant from SENESCYT (Arca de Noé Initiative; S. R. Ron and O. Torres-Carvajal principal investigators). OTC was also funded by DAAD. Peruvian specimens were collected under permit numbers 071-2008-INRENAIFFS-DCB, 0020-2009-AG-DGFFS-DGEFFS, and 0424-2010-AG-DGFFS-DGEFFS and exported with permits 0017799-AG-INRENA, 001829-AGDGFFS, and 003983-AG-DGFFS issued by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Peru. Ecuadorian specimens were collected under research permits MAE-DNB-CM-2016-0045 and MAE-DNB-CM-2015-0025 issued by Ministerio de Ambiente de Ecuador.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Alexander Koenig Gesellschaft | |
| Alexander Koenig Stiftung | |
| Jorge Novoa Cova | |
| Museo de Zoología, Universidad del Azuay | |
| Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst France | |
| Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación |
Keywords
- Andes
- Color pattern
- Hemipenial morphology
- Leptodeira larcorum
- Leptodeira ornata
- Leptodeira septentrionalis
- Molecular phylogeny