| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Fed Rio Grande, Inst Ciencias Biol, Lab Ecol Vertebrados Terrestres, Av Italia, Km 8, BR-96201900 Rio Grande 96201900, RS - Brazil
[2] Zool Forsch Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn - Germany
[3] Univ Gothenburg, Gothenburg Global Biodivers Ctr, Dept Biol & Environm Sci, Box 461, SE-40530 Gothenburg - Sweden
[4] Univ Estadual Maranhao, Ctr Estudos Super Caxias, Programa Posgrad Biodiversidade Ambiente & Saude, Praca Duque Caxias, BR-65604380 Caxias, MA - Brazil
[5] Friedrich Alexander Univ Erlangen Nurnberg, Schlosspl 4, D-91054 Erlangen - Germany
Total Affiliations: 5
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Apostolepis COPE, 1862 is a highly diversified and speciose Neotropical dipsadid genus, encompassing almost 40 species of fossorial or cryptozoic snakes, widely distributed east of the Andes. In this work, we revisit the taxonomic status of A. sanctaeritae WERNER, 1924, a rather controversial taxon described from a single specimen. Apostolepis sanctaeritae has been subject to several synonymizations and revalidations, being currently relegated as a junior synonym of Apostolepis cearensis COMES, 1915. A careful reanalysis of its coloration pattern, pholidosis, and a detailed description of the skull morphology of A. sanctaeritae, based on Cr-scan data of the holotype, provide compelling evidence for its revalidation. Furthermore, we consider A. ammodites FERRAREZZI, BARBO \& ALBUQUERQUE, 2005 as a junior synonym of A. sanctaeritae, considering a total overlap of important diagnostic characters of coloration (large snout blotch reaching up to the frontals, wide black nuchal collar), pholidosis (rostral scale does not reach one/half of its interprefrontal suture), osteology (curved dentary, with 8-9 teeth loci; prearticular crest slightly higher than surangular crest), and geographic distribution (recorded from the Cerrado of Brazil). We also present a detailed osteological description and taxonomic account for A. sanctaeritae plus brief comments on the taxonomy of Apostolepis, suggesting major changes for the current framework seen in recent publications. (AU) |