Marco Aurélio de Sena

Snakes from coastal islands of State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil

Cicchi, P.J.P.; De Sena, M.A. Peccinini-Seale, D.M. and Duarte, M.R. Snakes from coastal islands of State of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. Biota Neotrop. May/Aug 2007 vol. 7, no. 2. http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v7n2/pt/abstract?inventory+bn03907012007. ISSN 1676-0603. There are relatively few studies on snake fauna from coastal islands of the State of Sao Paulo (SSP), Southeastern Brazil and the number of species housed in Brazilian institutional zoological collections is relatively limited. In Brazil, for the first time, a snake inventory for eighteen islands of coastal SSP is presented. Here we record data from sampling on eleven islands as well information on vouchered species in the main herpetological collections. Thirty-six species from four families: one Boidae, thirty Colubridae, one Elapidae and four Viperidae from eighteen islands are listed as well as the thirteen new island records for snakes. Relative abundance categories were used for species rarity: common, infrequent and rare; 44.4% of the snakes with voucher specimens were considered rare. The most common species in twelve of the eighteen islands was Micrurus corallinus; in eleven of the eighteen islands were Bothrops jararaca and Liophis miliaris; in ten of the eighteen islands were B. jararacussu and Chironius bicarinatus. The most common snake species on coastal islands were Micrurus corallinus which was found in twelve of the eighteen islands, followed by Bothrops jararaca and Liophis miliaris found on eleven of the eighteen islands and B. jararacussu and Chironius bicarinatus which were found in ten of the eighteen islands studied. There are seven new records of snake species for Cardoso Island (25° 05’ S and 047° 59’ W): C. bicarinatus, C. multiventris, Dipsas petersi, Echinanthera bilineata, E. cephalostriata, Helicops carinicaudus and Xenodon neuwiedii; three new records for Comprida Island (24° 54’ S and 47° 48’ W): B. jararacussu, C. bicarinatus and H. carinicaudus; one for Anchieta Island (23° 32’ S and 045° 03’ W): Spilotes pullatus; one for Couves Island (23° 25’ S and 44° 52’ W): L. miliaris; one for Porcos Island (23° 23’ S and 44° 54’ W), B. jararaca. The endemic species B. alcatraz from Alcatrazes Island and B. insularis from Queimada Grande Island are considered endangered species by IUCN. Snake fauna on Monte de Trigo Island are extinct. The fragility of insular snake fauna needs more attention for environmental conservation, since 52.0% of snake species preys on amphibians, highlighting the importance of forest conservation.

Herpetofauna em uma área de Floresta Atlântica na Ilha Anchieta, município de Ubatuba, sudeste do Brasil

The aim of this work was to study of herpetofaunal diversity patterns in Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta, municipality of Ubatuba, located on the northern coast of Sao Paulo state, focusing: diversity, distribution and seasonal activity patterns. Data was obtained monthly from July 2005 to June 2006, in a total of 55 fieldwork days. Four sampling methods were used: visual surveys, pitfall traps, funnel traps and local collectors. Visual surveys and pitfall traps were more successful than other methods, which were complementary. A total of 17 anuran amphibians and eight reptile species were recorded. As in most studies in tropical areas, local herpetofauna presented a relatively low evenness, and differred from other communities by showing higher number of common species in relation to the rare ones. Anuran richness was higher in the closed physiognomies (deciduous and non-deciduous broadleaf forest), while reptiles richness was more representative in the anthropic field (open physiognomy). Correlation analyses showed that amphibian richness was not significantly associated with environmental parameters and reptile richness was significantly associated to temperature means. Our results demonstrate the importance of conservation of this island within the protected area of Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta.

A new species of Bachia Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from the Eastern Brazilian Cerrado, and data on its ecology, physiology and behavior

A new species of Bachia of the bresslaui group, Bachia geralista sp. nov., is described from Planalto dos Gerais, an old and partially dissected plateau extending along the Cerrados of Bahia, Minas Gerais and Tocantins states, Brazil. The new species is morphologically similar to B. bresslaui, with which it has been confused; however head scalation resembles other species from sandy spots within the Cerrado (B. psamophila and B. oxyrhina). Like in B. psamophila and B. oxyrhina, the shovel-shaped snout of the new species is highly prominent, a typical trait of psammophilous habits in other gymnophthalmids. The examination of specimens of B. bresslaui from several populations within the Cerrado revealed great variation among localities, leading to the reidentification of a specimen from Utiariti, Mato Grosso, previously referred to in the literature as the second record of B. bresslaui, as the recently described B. didactyla, suggesting that cryptic diversity might remain still undiscovered within this genus in the Cerrado. Despite occurring in a relatively open Cerrado, thermal physiology of Bachia geralista sp. nov. restricts its occurrence to shaded microhabitats within this habitat.

A new species of Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Serra do Cipó, Espinhaço Range, Southeastern Brazil, with proposition of a new species group to the genus

Descrevemos uma nova especie de Atractus da Serra do Cipo, na vertente sudeste da Serra do Espinhaco, uma cadeia montanhosa continental aproximadamente paralela a costa Atlântica brasileira. A nova especie e morfologicamente similar a A. paraguayensis e A. potschi com as quais compartilha: 15 series de escamas dorsais; regiao occipital branca em especimes jovens; coloracao dorsal de fundo variando de rosa avermelhado a vermelho (em vida) com pontuacoes, manchas e/ou bandas transversais pretas; sete supralabiais e infralabiais; ventrais e subcaudais creme esbranquicado; hemipenis levemente bilobado, semicapitulado e semicaliculado. A nova especie difere de ambos os taxons principalmente a partir de caracteres exclusivos de coloracao (numero e forma das bandas transversais), da morfologia hemipeniana (face mediana dos lobos sem ornamentacao) alem de diferencas meristicas (numero de escamas ventrais e dentes maxilares) e morfometricas (comprimento rostro-cloacal dos adultos). Apresenta-se uma discussao sobre as possiveis afinidades da nova especie e redefinem-se alguns grupos de especies de Atractus no sentido de acomodar melhor as especies que compartilham combinacoes unicas de caracteres morfologicos.

A New Tropidurus (Tropiduridae) from the Semiarid Brazilian Caatinga: Evidence for Conflicting Signal between Mitochondrial and Nuclear Loci Affecting the Phylogenetic Reconstruction of South American Collared Lizards

ABSTRACT Tropidurus Wied, 1825, is one of the most ubiquitous lizard genera distributed in open habitats of tropical and subtropical South America. Nevertheless, the broad representation of specimens of this group in scientific collections is hardly reflected in our knowledge of its taxonomic diversity. Most species currently assigned to Tropidurus began to be uncovered in the early 1980s and additional populations in need of formal taxonomic treatment have been cataloged ever since. Herein, we name Tropidurus sertanejo, n. sp., a new species of the T. torquatus group endemic to the semiarid Brazilian Caatinga. Tropidurus sertanejo, n. sp., is currently known from two isolated populations in the municipalities of Caetité and Ibotirama, State of Bahia, Brazil. This is the only species of the T. torquatus group lacking granular mite pockets on the lateral neck, and it is also diagnosable by having a conspicuous bronze-colored head, a light-brown dorsal body with small pale salmon spots, and small body size in comparison with most congeners. Phylogenetic analyses recovered a paraphyletic Tropidurus, but firmly supported T. sertanejo, n. sp., as member of a monophyletic T. torquatus species group. Trees generated by independent analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data conflicted with our total evidence phylogenetic hypotheses. Since topological disagreements were detected among phylogenetic trees resulting from maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) reconstructions, and MP analyses do not require distinct evolutionary models or partition schemes to be defined prior to conduction of phylogenetic reconstruction, these factors were considered unlikely to explain all the variation in the observed results, favoring the interpretation of conflicting phylogenetic signal. Because detailed information on the distribution, population size, and ecological requirements of T. sertanejo, n. sp., are currently unavailable, we recommend the species to be listed as “data deficient” following the rules proposed by IUCN.

Reconquering the water: Evolution and systematics of South and Central American aquatic lizards (Gymnophthalmidae)

The Cercosaurini tribe stands out from other Gymnophthalmidae lizards for including several species with morphological adaptations to aquatic lifestyle (“Crocodile‐Like Morphology” – CLM). Recent molecular phylogenies of Cercosaurini demonstrated the paraphyly of CLM species, implicitly suggesting that adaptations to the aquatic life evolved more than once. However, CLM species have remained poorly sampled, and a number of uncertainties persist, such as the monophyly of Neusticurus and the placement of Potamites apodemus within the tribe. Based on a more extensive molecular and morphological data set, we propose a phylogenetic hypothesis for Neusticurus and investigate, for the first time, the phylogenetic position of P. apodemus. We recovered a monophyletic Neusticurus clade; however, Neusticurus rudis as currently understood was recovered as paraphyletic, with two lineages that also show consistent morphological diagnosis; as a result, we resurrect and provide a taxonomic redescription of Neusticurus surinamensis Müller, . Moreover, because P. apodemus was recovered as sister to all other Echinosaura, we propose a new combination for this species (Echinosaura apodema). We also review the distribution of Neusticurus species, offering a comprehensive view of their biogeography. Lastly, our ancestral character reconstruction and dating analyses indicate that the CLM phenotype evolved four times independently during Cercosaurini′s evolutionary history. We hypothesize that the CLM phenotype and subsequent adaptation to aquatic life may be linked to the development of the Pebas Lake in western Amazonia during the Miocene.

Distribution extension and revised map of Erythrolamprus pygmaeus (Cope, 1868) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)

We provide geographic data for the poorly known dipsadid Erythrolamprus pygmaeus , including the first record in Rondonia state, as well a new record in central Amazon at lower Purus River, Amazonas state. Additionally we review its distribution in Para state.