Research Article |
Corresponding author: João Carlos Lopes Costa ( joaoclcosta@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Zoltan T Nagy
© 2015 João Carlos Lopes Costa, Christoph Kucharzewski, Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Costa JCL, Kucharzewski C, da Costa Prudente AL (2015) The real identity of Leptodira nycthemera Werner, 1901 from Ecuador: a junior synonym of Oxyrhopus petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes, Dipsadidae). ZooKeys 506: 119-125. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.506.9074
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Leptodira nycthemera Werner, 1901, was described from a specimen collected in Ecuador. No information on the holotype was published after its description. In the most recent review of Leptodeira, L. nycthemera was considered to be a synonym of L. a. annulata, although the author emphasized that the holotype was lost and did not include the pholidotic data from the original description in his account of L. a. annulata. Since this review, a number of authors have accepted this synonymy. Recently, analyzing specimens of Leptodeira in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany, we discovered the holotype of Leptodira nycthemera. This holotype is re-described here, and its correct identity is determined. Based on the analysis of meristic characters and the color of the holotype, we recognize Leptodira nycthemera as a junior synonym of Oxyrhopus petolarius.
Leptodeira annulata annulata , new synonym, Oxyrhopus petolarius
Leptodira nycthemera was described by
Subsequently,
In a review of the Leptodeira species of North America,
The name L. nycthemera reappeared in the most recent review of Leptodeira, presented by
Recently, we discovered the Leptodira nycthemera holotype during the analysis of the Leptodeira specimens at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. This specimen is redescribed here, and its taxonomic status is determined.
Measurements of the specimens are presented in millimeters, and were taken with a digital caliper and flexible ruler. The measurements of the head and cephalic scales have a precision of 0.1 mm, and those of the SVL and tail, a precision of 1 mm. The head length was defined as the distance between the rostral and the angle of the jaws. Head width is the widest point of the head at the level of the temporal scales.
The cephalic scales were counted on both sides (right/left) of the head and body (
The type specimen of Leptodira nycthemera Werner, 1901, is currently housed in the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany, under catalog number ZMB 16596.
Redescription: The holotype is a juvenile female (Figure
;
vertebral row not enlarged; 2 preventrals + 205 ventrals; anal scute undivided; 101 / 101 subcaudals + terminal spine. Morphometric data: Snout-vent length (SVL) = 200 mm; tail length = 64 mm; head length = 10.7 mm; head width = 6.6 mm; head height = 3.7 mm; horizontal eye diameter = 1.75 mm; distance from anterior margin of eye to nostril = 2.5 mm; frontal length = 3.4 mm; frontal width = 3.1 mm; parietal length = 4.2 mm; parietal width = 3.2 mm; anterior genials= 2.6 mm; posterior genials= 2.3 mm. Proportions: Ratio of tail length to total length = 32.5 %; ratio of head length to SVL= 5.35 %. Color pattern in preservative: The head is somewhat discolored but it is still possible to observe a dark area, as mentioned in the original description, which forms a hood covering the rostral, internasal, pre-frontal, frontal, and parietal scales; symphyseal and infralabials gray; occipital area white, starting at the supralabials, through the margins of the posterior parietal, and all occipitals; well preserved coloration of the body and tail, with clearly visible pigmentation, body with dark (black) bands, which extend to the edge of the ventral scales and are separated by light (white) bands; a pattern comprised of 12 + ½ black bands on the body and 6 + ½ on the tail, the bands merge starting at the fourth dorsal blotch forming a zigzag pattern, the dark bands are longer on the anterior portion of the body, and the three first are 19, 17, and 16 scales long on the vertebral line, respectively; ventrals and subcaudals scales are lightly colored (cream in preservative).
The holotype presents the typical characters of species of the genus Oxyrhopus (
The only species of Oxyrhopus from Ecuador that has the same color pattern and pholidosis as L. nycthemera is Oxyrhopus petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758). A number of characters of the holotype are consistent with or within the range of the data presented for female O. petolarius by
Based on the analysis of meristic characters and the color pattern of the redescribed holotype, we recognize Leptodira nycthemera as a junior synonym of Oxyrhopus petolarius. Oxyrhopus petolarius has the most ample geographic distribution of the species of the genus, occurring from Veracruz, on the Atlantic slope of Mexico, and the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, through Central America, to western Equator, and throughout northern South America, including Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru (
The taxonomy of O. petolarius is also subject to some controversy (see
We thank D. T. Feitosa and M. G. Pires, for providing information on the holotypes, J. F. Sarmento for helping with the herpetology collection at the Museu Emilio Goeldi, and F. Tillack, curator of the Herpetology Collection at the Museum of Natural History Leibniz, Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University of Berlin, for the photographs. We are very grateful for the careful reviews of two anonymous referees. We are also grateful to Isabela Brcko for helpful suggestions on this manuscript. We thank S. Ferrari for improving the English writing. J. C. L. C. is supported by stipends from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, process number PROTAX 140142/2011-8), and his research and that of A. Prudente is supported by CNPq (process number PROTAX 562171/2010–0; Pq 308950/2011-9; 305475/2014-2).