Systematic revision of the Eyelash Palm-Pitviper Bothriechis schlegelii (Serpentes, Viperidae), with the description of five new species and revalidation of three

By

Arteaga, Alejandro
Pyron, R Alexander
Batista, Abel
Vieira-Fernandes, José L.
Meneses Pelayo, Elson
Smith, Eric Nelson, 1969-
Barrio-Amorós, César L
Koch, Claudia
Agne, Stefanie
Valencia, Jorge
Bustamante, Lucas
Harris, Kyle J.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024-2-8

Original Publication

Evolutionary systematics

Volume

8

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

15--64

Subjects

Colombia , Costa Rica , Ecuador , Panama , phylogeography , Serpentes , snake , Squamata , taxonomy , venomous

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Hamburg Centrum für Naturkunde (CeNak) 2017-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.8.114527

 

Abstract

We present a taxonomic review and systematic revision of the Eyelash Palm-Pitviper Bothriechis schlegelii (Berthold, 1846) based on examination of 400 museum specimens, a phylogeographic analysis of 818 locality records, and 80 individuals sampled for molecular characters. We find morphological and phylogenetic support for five new species of Bothriechis Peters, 1859, which we describe here based on their unique combination of molecular, meristic, hemipenial, and color pattern characteristics. They are: B. klebbaisp. nov., B. rasikusumorumsp. nov., B. khwargisp. nov., B. rahimisp. nov., and B. hussainisp. nov. Finally, we revalidate the names B. nigroadspersus (Steindachner, 1870), B. nitidus (Günther, 1859), and B. torvus (Posada Arango, 1889a), and provide a redescription of B. schlegelii.