A new four-pored Amphisbaena Linnaeus, 1758 (Amphisbaenia, Amphisbaenidae) from the north of Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

By

Ribeiro, Síria
Santos Jr, Alfredo
Martins, Isabelly
Oliveira, Elaine
Graboski, Roberta
Silveira, Thiago
Benicio, Matheus
Vaz-Silva, Wilian

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1213

Pages

1--27

Subjects

Morphology , new species , Phylogeny , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1213.122265

 

Abstract

A new species of Amphisbaena is described from the north of Espinhaço Mountain Range, municipality of Caetité, state of Bahia, Brazil. Amphisbaena amethystasp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) snout convex in profile, slightly compressed not keeled; (2) pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli; (3) four precloacal pores; (4) distinct cephalic shields; (5) 185–199 dorsal half-annuli; (6) 13–16 caudal annuli; (7) conspicuous autotomic site between 4th–6th caudal annuli; (8) 16–21 dorsal and ventral segments at midbody; (9) 3/3 supralabials; (10) 3/3 infralabials; and (11) smooth and rounded tail tip. The new species is the 71st species of genus with four precloacal pores, and the 22nd species from the Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. The identification of Amphisbaena amethystasp. nov. indicates that the reptile fossorial fauna in the Espinhaço Mountain Range region is far from being completely known and that it may harbour a much greater diversity of endemic taxa.