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| A large Chironius specimen (possibly C. fuscus) recorded in the region of Tinguá, Rio de Janeiro state, with well-marked reddish-brown labials, preying on a frog (Cycloramphus sp., Cycloramphidae).
in Sudré, Curcio, Nunes, et al., 2017.
Photo by D.J. Luiz.
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Abstract
We provide morphological data supporting the allocation of Chironius pyrrhopogon (Wied, 1824) in the synonymy of C. exoletus, proposed earlier in the literature without proper justification. Besides the historical (literature) data, we also examined 155 Chironius specimens previously identified as C. exoletus, C. pyrrhopogon and C. quadricarinatus that could possibly fit the diagnosis and distribution of Wied’s specimens, and performed statistical tests to assess potentially informative variations in the sample. In addition, we concluded that the color features associated with C. pyrrhopogon are by no means diagnostic of a unique entity. Nonetheless, although apparently present at random in some Chironius species in the Atlantic Forest, we suggest that the reddish-brown spots are possibly linked to other phenomena involving co-evolutionary interactions with anuran potential preys.
Keywords: Reptilia, Coloration features, Chironius exoletus, Atlantic Forest, Rio Benevente, Dietary sequestration
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| FIGURE 5. A large Chironius specimen (possibly C. fuscus) recorded in the region of Tinguá, Rio de Janeiro state, with well-marked reddish-brown labials, preying on a frog (Cycloramphus sp., Cycloramphidae). Photo by D.J. Luiz. |
Vinícius Sudré, Felipe Franco Curcio, Pedro M. Sales Nunes, Katia Cristina Machado Pellegrino and Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues. 2017. Who is the Red-bearded Snake, Anyway? Clarifying the Taxonomic Status of Chironius pyrrhopogon (Wied, 1824) (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zootaxa. 4319(1); 143–156. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4319.1.7
