Long known, brand new, and possibly threatened: a new species of watersnake of the genus Helicops Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes; Xenodontinae) from the Tocantins-Araguaia River Basin, Brazil

Autor(es)

MORAES-DA-SILVA, A. N. T. O. N. I. O. ^{[1, 2]} ; Amaro, Renata Cecilia ^[3] ; Sales Nunes, Pedro M. ^[4] ; Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut ^[3] ; Curcio, Felipe Franco ^{[1, 5]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Fed Mato Grosso, Inst Biociencias, Dept Biol & Zool, Av Fernando Correa Costa 2367, BR-78060900 Cuiaba, Mato Grosso - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Pernambuco, Programa Posgrad Biol Anim, Av Prof Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Univ, BR-50670901 Recife, PE - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Rua Matao, Travessa 14, POB 11-461, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Pernambuco, Dept Zool, Ctr Biociencias, Av Prof Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Univ, BR-50670901 Recife, PE - Brazil

^[5] Inst Nacl Areas Umidas, Av Fernando Correa Costa, BR-78060900 Cuiaba, Mato Grosso - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Zootaxa; v. 4903, n. 2, p. 217-241, JAN 7 2021.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

We describe a new species of watersnake of the genus Helicops from the Tocantins-Araguaia River Basin based on characters of coloration and hemipenial morphology, also corroborated by a molecular phylogenetic analysis including 18 terminals of 10 additional congeners. The new species superficially resembles the spotted-patterned He. leopardinus, but differs from it in exhibiting dorsal spots fused into irregular bands, and a unique hemipenial structure with two pairs of distinctly enlarged basal spines. In addition, despite the superficial resemblance of color pattern, our genetic evidence indicates that the new species does not belong to the He. leopardinus radiation, representing the sister group of a component including terminals of this species, He. modestus, and He. infrataeniatus. Finally, we discuss the apparent restriction of the new species to the Tocantins-Araguaia Basin with focus on vicariant processes that may have promoted its differentiation, as well as on the conservation challenges in an area severely affected by ant Topic impacts associated with the rapid expansion of hydroelectric and agricultural sectors in the Brazilian Cerrado. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/50146-6 - Filogeografia comparada, filogenia, modelagem paleoclimática e taxonomia de répteis e anfíbios neotropicais
• Beneficiário: Miguel Trefaut Urbano Rodrigues
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático