A New Species of Colubrid Snake (Synophis) from Western Colombia

Abstract

-Based on characters of external morphology, scutellation, and osteology, we describe a new species of Synophis from the Pacific versant of the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia. Assignment of this species to Synophis is tentative, pending a reassessment of nothopsin relationships. Some natural history notes are reported for the new species. RESUMEN.-Con base en caracteres de morfologia externa, escamaci6n y vertebras, se describe una nueva especie de Synophis del bosque nublado de la vertiente pacifica de la Cordillera Occidental de Colombia. La referencia de esta especie a Synophis es provisoria y queda a la espera de una revisi6n de las relaciones de los not6psinos. Se reportan algunos aspectos de la historia natural de la nueva especie. In August 1994, personnel from the Laboratorio de Herpetologia of the Universidad del Valle, in Colombia, began an intensive survey of the herpetofauna at Hacienda San Pedro on the Pacific slopes of the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia. Among the material collected at this site are two specimens representing an undescribed species referable to Synophis. In three years of work at Hacienda San Pedro, only two specimens of Synophis were collected. Herein, we describe this new species and discuss morphological variation and current problems encountered in studying the systematics of the genera Emmochliophis (E. fugleri and E. miops) and Synophis (S. bicolor, S. calamitus, and S. lasallei; sensu Hillis, 1990) and present natural history data for the new species. As indicated by Bogert (1964) and Hillis (1990), attempts to study the biology of these enigmatic snakes have been thwarted by a paucity of specimens, presumably because of low population densities and/or semifossorial habits. MATERIALS AND METHODS Because of the presumed sister relationship between the genera Synophis and Emmochliophis (sensu Hillis, 1990) and the similarity among their species, we compare and diagnose the new species with respect to members of Emmochliophis, Synophis, and Xenopholis (see the Appendix). To assess the validity of current phylogenetic hypotheses, we also examined a variety of 2 Corresponding Author. 4 Present Address: Division of Vertebrate Zoology, Herpetology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024-5192, USA. other colubrid genera. Data from specimens unavailable for examination were compiled from Bogert (1964), Hillis (1990), Nic6foro-Maria (1950, 1970), Peracca (1896), and Werner (1923). The sex of the female holotype was determined by visual examination of the relatively short tail length and small girth and was confirmed by the lack of radiodense hemipenial spines in radiographs (Card and Mehaffey, 1994). The sex of the male paratype was verified by presence of hemipenes and chin tubercles. Color descriptions are based on preserved specimens, field notes, and photographs of the paratype in life. Body measurements were made to the nearest 0.1 mm with a metal straight ruler and digital calipers. Illustrations were drawn with the aid of a Nikon SMZ-U dissecting microscope with a camera lucida attachment. The coordinates of the type locality were determined using a Magellan CPS satellite receiver. Vertebral characters were examined from radiographs (1.25-min exposure; 5 mV; 45 KV), dried skeletal material, and cleared-and-doublestained vertebrae. These materials were compared with descriptions by Bogert (1964), Fritts and Smith (1969), and Hillis (1990). Teeth were counted on the right side of the holotype only and were observed from the radiographs. Synophis plectovertebralis sp. nov. (Figure 1) Holotype.-UVC 11858, a female collected on 31 March 1995 by Luciano Atoy Ortega at Hacienda San Pedro, about 6 km south El Queremal, Municipio Dagua, Departamento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia, 03?29'N, 76042'W, at 1800 m on the Pacific versant of the Cordillera Occi-