Giuseppe Puorto

Combining mitochondrial DNA sequences and morphological data to infer species boundaries: phylogeography of lanceheaded pitvipers in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, and the status of Bothrops pradoi (Squamata: Serpentes: Viperidae)

Phylogeographic studies using mitochondrial DNA sequence information are frequently used as the principal source of evidence to infer species boundaries. However, a critical analysis of further evidence is essential to test whether different haplotype clades identify different species. We demonstrate a hypothesis‐testing approach, using a combination of phylogeographic methods, multivariate morphometrics and matrix association tests, to investigate species boundaries in eastern Brazilian pitvipers conventionally assigned to the species Bothrops leucurus and B. pradoi. Two basal haplotype clades with partly overlapping geographical distributions are identified, which could either represent two partly sympatric species, or multiple haplotypes within one organismal lineage. We use partial Mantel matrix association tests to verify whether generalized morphology, or any of four supposedly diagnostic characters for the two species, show any association with mtDNA variation. Negative results lead to the conclusion that the haplotype clades do not denote independently evolving organismal lineages, and do not constitute separate species under any criterion.

Hemorrhagic, fibrinogenolytic and edema-forming activities of the venom of the colubrid snake Philodryas olfersii (green snake)

The venom of P. olfersii has high hemorrhagic, edema-inducing and fibrin(ogen)olytic activities. It is devoid of thrombin-like, procoagulant, phospholipase A2 and platelet aggregating enzymes. The main activities are metalloproteinases inhibited by metal chelators (EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline) and sulfhydryl compounds (DTT and cysteine). The hemorrhagic and fibrinogenolytic enzymes were partially purified by gel filtration on HPLC. The hemorrhagic activity of the venom was neutralized by commercial horse antivenoms to Bothrops species, as well as by rabbit antisera specific for hemorrhagic factors isolated from these Bothrops venoms. No immunoprecipitin reactions were obtained, indicating that the few epitopes of the P. olfersii hemorrhagin are involved in these neutralization reactions. The fibrinogenolytic enzyme cleaves A alpha-chain more quickly than the B beta-chain of human fibrinogen. The venom also solubilizes fibrin. This solubilization appears to occur from the hydrolysis of unpolymerized alpha-chain and cross-linked gamma-gamma dimer. The fibrin peptide products are distinct from those produced by plasmin.

Bites by the colubrid snake Philodryas olfersii: a clinical and epidemiological study of 43 cases.

Less than 10 cases of bites by Philodryas olfersii (Colubridae) have been reported in the literature. In this study, 43 patients admitted to the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil, with the diagnosis of P. olfersii bite from 1982 to 1990 were reviewed. The 32 male (74.4%) and 11 female (25.6%) patients presented mainly from November to February (65%). The most common clinical features were local pain (37.2%), swelling (34.9%), erythema (18.6%) and ecchymosis (9.3%). The 20 minute whole blood clotting test was performed in 11 patients and in all of them the blood was coagulable. Most of the accidents occurred during the hottest months and during daylight hours. The most common bite site was the hands. Severe envenoming is not frequent in these accidents.

Feeding, reproduction and growth in the crowned snake

The crowned snake Tantilla melanocephala is a small fossorial sonorine snake, widely distributed through South America. Dissection of 186 specimens, combined with observations of captive specimens, provided information on the natural history of this species in southeastern Brazil. Females attained larger body sizes than males. Apparently T. melanocephala forage at night for active prey. Centipedes of the genus Otostigmus were the main prey item. These centipedes are subdued by injection of venom. Data from preserved specimens showed no significant seasonal variation in the number of collected snakes. Reproduction seemed to be highly seasonal with vitellogenesis occurring from onset to the middle of the rainy season and hatching at the end of the rainy season. Clutch size ranged from one to three and was correlated with female body length. Neonates measured 10-12 cm snout-vent length and juveniles attained about 17.5 cm SVL during the first year. Apparently males attain sexual maturity at an age of about 10 months and females at about 20 months.

Two New Species of Colubrid Snakes of the Genus Clelia from Brazil

-TWO new species of Clelia are described from Brazil: Clelia quimi sp. n, from southern, southeastern, and west-central Brazil, and Clelia montana sp n, which is probably restricted to the highlands of northwestern Sao Paulo and southern Minas Gerais. Clelia quimi appears to be closely related to C. bicolor, being distinguished from the latter by the number of ventral scales and the color of the supralabials. Clelia montana sp. n. seems allied to C. rustica, differing from the latter by the numbers of supraand infralabials and the generalized color pattern. The genus Clelia Fitzinger, 1826, is currently included in the subfamily Xenodontinae Bonaparte, 1845, and in the tribe Pseudoboini Jenner and Dowling, 1985. The inclusion of this genus in the Pseudoboini is based mainly on hemipenis morphology (Jenner and Dowling, 1985). Geographical congruency and the immunologic distance of albumins also support Clelias relationship with the other nine genera included in this tribe (Jenner and Dowling, 1985). The genus Clelia is distributed through most of the Neotropical region, from southern Mexico (Bailey, 1970) to about 42?S, east of the Andes in Argentina (Bailey, 1970; Schrocchi and Vifias, 1990). Bailey (1970) recognized six species: C. bicolor (Peracca, 1904); C. clelia (Daudin, 1803), with two subspecies C. c. clelia (Daudin, 1803) and C. c. plumbea (Wied, 1820); C. equatoriana (Amaral, 1924); C. rustica (Cope, 1878); C. scytalina (Cope, 1867); and C. occipitolutea (Dumeril, Bibron and Dumeril, 1854). Recently, Underwood (1993) described Clelia errabunda from Saint Lucia Island (Antilles). When Scrocchi and Vifias (1990) studied the species of this genus in Argentina, they synonymized C. occipitolutea with C. c. clelia. If this synonymization is accepted, there would be two very different species named C. c. clelia in Brazil. This issue is currently being studied by H. Zaher (pers. comm.). Among the species currently considered, three have been recorded for Brazil: C. clelia, found in forest formations (Bailey, 1970; Cunha and Nascimento, 1978) and in the Pantanal wetlands (Striissmann and Sazima, 1993); C. rustica, apparently limited to the colder regions in the southern parts of the country (Bailey, 1970); and 483 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.92 on Wed, 22 Jun 2016 04:57:00 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Origin and phylogenetic position of the Lesser Antillean species of Bothrops (Serpentes, Viperidae): biogeographical and medical implications

We use mitochondrial DNA sequences to infer the origin and phylogenetic position of the Lesser Antillean species of the pitviper genus Bothrops , B. caribbaeus and B. lanceolatus . The two species form a monophyletic group, which in turn forms the sister clade to the Bothrops asper-atrox complex. High levels of sequence divergence among the Caribbean species, and between them and the nearest mainland relatives, suggest a relatively ancient origin of these snakes. The hypothesis that the Lesser Antillean Bothrops are the result of a recent colonisation event from within the South American B. atrox complex is rejected, as is the hypothesis that they were introduced to their island habitats by aboriginal humans. The high level of morphological apomorphy displayed by B. lanceolatus suggests a stepping-stone colonisation, St. Lucia being colonised first and then Martinique from St. Lucia. The medical implications of these findings are discussed: a recent case of envenoming from Saint Lucia suggests that Bothrops caribbaeus causes the same thrombotic syndrome of envenoming as B. lanceolatus .

Topographical Anatomy of the Blunthead Treesnake, Imantodes cenchoa (Linnaeus, 1758) (Colubridae: Xenodontinae)

Imantodes cenchoa (Dumeril, 1853) es una serpiente xenodontinea, arborea, noctura y ovipara, que se alimenta de anfibios y largartos. Se encuenta en America Central y del Sur, incluyendo las partes Norte y Central de Brasil. En este trabajo, investigamos la relaciones entre la Anatomia Topografica y habitat en I. cenchoa. Fueron examinados 20 especimenes (13 hembras no prenadas y 7 machos). El estudio de la Anatomia Topografica fue realizada a traves de observaciones de la anatomia interna, particularmente la posicion y tamano del pulmon, corazon, higado, gonadas y rinones derechos e izquierdos. Los resultados mostraron que todos los organos estan localizados en una posicion posterior, en relacion a la entrada de la longitud del hocico(SVL). El centro de gravedad se encuentra a 74% de SVL en machos y hembras. En los machos, no fue observada alometria positiva entre la posicion de los organos. Fue observada alometria negativa en las hembras, considerando la posicion del extremo anterior del rinon izquierdo, los extremos anterior y posterior del rinon derecho y ambos ovarios. En machos, se presento alometria negativa en la posicion de todos los organos. La distancia entre el ultimo foliculo y la cloaca fue 8.78% de SVL. Nuestros datos corroboran la idea que la posicion posterior de todos los organos internos esta marcada por una especializacion al habitat de una serpiente, marcando la especie arborea I. cenchoa con una especial topografia interna posterior