A new species of Erythrolamprus from the oceanic island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae)

By

Murphy, John
Braswell, Alvin L.
Charles, Stevland P.
Renoir, Auguste J.
Rivas, Gilson
Borzée, Amaël
Lehtinen, Richard Matthew
Jowers, Michael

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

817

Pages

131--157

Subjects

cryptic species evolutionary species conce

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.817.30811

 

Abstract

Tobago is a small island on the southeast edge of the Caribbean Plate with a continental flora and fauna. Using DNA sequences from Genbank, new sequences, and morphological data from the snakesErythrolamprusepinephalus,E.melanotus,E.reginae, andE.zweifeli, the species status of specimens of a Tobago snake previously considered to beErythrolamprusreginaewas assessed.Erythrolampruszweifeli, long considered a subspecies ofE.reginae, was found to be a northern Venezuela-Trinidad endemic and the sister toE.reginae. The trans-Andean speciesE.epinephalusis shown to be non-monophyletic while the Costa Rican lineage ofE.epinephalusis weakly supported as the sister to the Tobago population. The TobagoErythrolamprusis described as a distinct taxon based upon five specimens from four localities in lower montane rainforest. Much of the new species range includes the Main Ridge Forest Reserve of Tobago, the oldest protected forest in the Western Hemisphere. All known locations fall within a 400-ha area, and its total geographic distribution is likely to be less than 4,566 ha. The restricted distribution of this new snake makes it a likely candidate for threatened status. The new species also becomes another biogeographic link between northern Venezuela and Tobago.