Status of Apostolepis borellii Peracca 1904 (Serpentes, Xenodontinae), with restriction of the A. nigroterminata concept

Thales De Lema,Márcia Ferret Renner

doi:10.4013/nbc.2016.112.02

Abstract

Apostolepis borellii has been considered a junior synonym of A. nigroterminata . However, examination of the holotypes showed significant differences between the species, such as head narrow (vs. wide, stocky), slandering snout (vs. wide and rounded), background color brown (vs. red), black nuchal collar wide, reaching the gular region (vs. short, not reaching gular region), tail extremity slandering with conic tip (vs. stocky, rounded tip), tail blotch complete reaching dorsals and subcaudals (vs. only dorsal, with white ring anteriorly). Apostolepis borellii occurs in the Cerrado, while A. nigroterminata , in the Amazonian Forest, two diverse biomes. The former may constitute a new group of small sized species, own from central-western Brazil to Bolivia; the latter is allocated in the nigrolineata group, both presented herein. Keywords: Brazil, Peru, Cerrado, Amazonian Forest, revalidation.

Highlights

Apostolepis nigroterminata Boulenger 1896 was described based on a specimen from Ucayali Valley, eastern Peru, and housed in The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH)
The holotypes were examined with loan from BMNH, as well as specimens from Bolivia, and by several photos sent by the manager of the Torino Museum; specimens housed in the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH.39646) were examined
We examined the specimens and concluded they represent a new species based on specimens from Mato Grosso, Brazil

Summary

Introduction

Apostolepis nigroterminata Boulenger 1896 was described based on a specimen from Ucayali Valley, eastern Peru, and housed in The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH). Apostolepis borellii Peracca 1904 was described on the basis of a specimen from the Urucum Massif, in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and housed in the Museo de Storia Naturale de Torino (MZUT). Ferrarezzi (1993) revalidated A. borellii, citing a specimen from Mato Grosso, housed in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Harvey (1999) considered again A. borellii as a junior synonym of A. nigroterminata, as well as a specimen from Tapirapés River, Mato Grosso, housed in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and some specimens from Bolivia, housed in several institutions, alleging the differences due by polymorphism. The specimens from Manso will be the subject of another study, but certainly do not belong to the two species that are the focus of this article

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Conclusion