A new species of pit-viper from the Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions in Myanmar (Viperidae, Trimeresurus)

By

Chan, Kin Onn
Anuar, Shahrul
Ananthanarayanan, Sankar
Law, Ingg Thong
Law, Ing Sind
Shivaram, Rasu
Ching, Christian
Mulcahy, Daniel
Malhotra, Anita

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1186

Pages

221--234

Subjects

cryptic species complex , mangrove pit-viper , Morphology , snake , systematics , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1186.110422

 

Abstract

In a genomic study by Chan and colleagues, pit-vipers of the Trimeresurus erythrurus–purpureomaculatus complex from the Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions in Myanmar were demonstrated to be a distinct species based on robust population genetic and species delimitation analyses. Here, we provide morphological characterizations and a formal description of those populations as a new species. The new species, Trimeresurus ayeyarwadyensissp. nov., is most closely related to T. erythrurus and T. purpureomaculatus and shares morphological characteristics with both of those species. Some specimens of T. ayeyarwadyensissp. nov. have green dorsal coloration and no distinct dorsal blotches (a trait shared with T. erythrurus but not T. purpureomaculatus), while others have dark dorsal blotches (a trait shared with T. purpureomaculatus but not T. erythrurus). The distinct evolutionary trajectory of the new species, coupled with the lack of obvious morphological differentiation, represents a classic example of the cryptic nature of species commonly found in the Trimeresurus group of Asian pit-vipers and underscores the need for data-rich analyses to verify species’ boundaries more broadly within this genus.