Morphological extremes--two new snakes of the genus Atractus from northwestern South America (Colubridae, Dipsadinae)

Title Variants

Alternative: Morphological extremes, two new snakes of the genus Atractus from northwestern South America (Colubridae, Dipsadinae)
Alternative: New snakes
Alternative: Two new snakes of the genus Atractus from northwestern South America (Colubridae, Dipsadinae)

Related Titles

Series: American Museum novitates, no. 3532

By

Myers, Charles W.

Schargel, Walter E.

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

New York, NY American Museum of Natural History c2006

Notes

Title from caption.

"September 8, 2006."

Abstract also in Spanish.

"Two new Andean snakes exhibit extreme morphology in a genus of South American dipsadine colubrids. One, Atractus attenuatus, new species, is a slender, exceptionally attenuated snake 420 mm in total length (adult male holotype), with 17 scale rows, a high ventral + subcaudal count (226), and an extremely vague pattern of numerous, closely spaced, indistinct dark crossbars on a brown ground color. Atractus attenuatus comes from 1000 m elevation in the northern end of the Cordillera Central (Sabanalarga, Antioquia, Colombia). A geographic neighbor, Atractus sanguineus Prado, is of similar morphology but differs in having distinct, widely spaced crossbars on a red ground color. At another extreme, Atractus gigas, new species, is a very robust snake that exceeds a meter in length (adult female holotype 1040 mm in total length), with a hint of pale transverse dorsal bars on a brown ground color. It is the largest known Atractus, differing in color pattern and details of scutellation from the several other congeners that attain lengths > 700 mm. The only known specimen has an azygous frontonasal scale that is atypical of colubrids (but is not an obvious aberrancy). Atractus gigas comes from 1900 m elevation on the Pacific versant of the Andes (Bosque Protector Río Guajalito, Pichincha, Ecuador)"--P. [1].

Subjects

Andes Region , Antioquia (Dept.) , Atractus , Atractus attenuatus , Atractus gigas , Classification , Colombia , Ecuador , Morphology , Pichincha (Province) , Reptiles , Snakes

Call Number

QL1 .A436 no.3532, 2006

Language

English

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0082(2006)3532[1:MENSOT]2.0.CO;2
OCLC: 71314764