[Herpetology • 2019] Taxonomic Status of Apostolepis barrioi Lema, 1978, with Comments on the Taxonomic Instability of Apostolepis Cope, 1862 (Serpentes, Dipsadidae)

Apostolepis dimidiata (Jan, 1862)

in Entiauspe-Neto, de Sena, Tiutenko & Loebmann, 2019. 

 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.841.33404

Abstract

Apostolepis is a diverse neotropical snake genus, which has been historically subjected to poor taxonomic descriptions, largely based on either a small type series or subjective diagnoses. We evaluate the case of Apostolepis barrioi Lema, 1978 and its intricate taxonomic history, suggesting its synonymization with Apostolepis dimidiata (Jan, 1862), and providing brief commentary on the taxonomic instability that has been plaguing the genus.

Keywords: Elapomorphini, Neotropical, synonymy, taxonomy

Figure 1. Dorsal, lateral and ventral illustrations of previously recognized taxa, Apostolepis dimidiata (A) and A. barrioi (B), according to the diagnoses of Cabral et al. (2017). However, these represent merely phenotypic variations of A. dimidiata and, according to the descriptions of Jan (1862) and Lema (1978), both holotypes of A. barrioi and A. dimidiata present the bottom coloration.

 Omar Machado Entiauspe-Neto, Arthur de Sena, Arthur Tiutenko and Daniel Loebmann. 2019. Taxonomic Status of Apostolepis barrioi Lema, 1978, with Comments on the Taxonomic Instability of Apostolepis Cope, 1862 (Serpentes, Dipsadidae).  ZooKeys. 841: 71-78. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.841.33404