Leaving no stone unturned: three additional new species of Atractus ground snakes (Serpentes, Colubridae) from Ecuador discovered using a biogeographical approach

By

Arteaga, Alejandro
Quezada, Amanda
Vieira-Fernandes, José L.
Guayasamin, Juan M.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1121

Pages

175--210

Subjects

Biodiversity , Biogeography , Colubridae , fossorial , new species , Phylogeny , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1121.89539

 

Abstract

The genusAtractusincludes 146 species of cryptozoic snakes occurring from Panama to northeastern Argentina. Here, a molecular phylogeny of this genus is presented, which encompasses 29% (= 42; six are included here for the first time) of the species currently recognized. Morphological and phylogenetic support is found for three new species of ground snakes, which are described here based on their unique combination of molecular, meristic, and color pattern characteristics. The nameA. arangoiPrado, 1939 is revalidated for a Colombian snake species previously subsumed underA. majorBoulenger, 1894 based on new material collected in Ecuador. Reidentifications are provided forAtractusvoucher specimens and sequences deposited in GenBank. With these changes, the number ofAtractusreported in Ecuador increases from 27 to 31 species. Finally, attention is given to the importance of using a biogeographical framework that includes molecular data and a comprehensive geographic sampling when proposing species limits in complex taxonomic groups.