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| Anguiculus dicaprioi gen. et sp. nov. Mirza, Bhardwaj, Pal, Lalremsanga, Vogel, Campbell & Patel, 2024 |
Abstract
The colubrid snakes of the genera Gongylosoma Fitzinger, 1843 and Liopeltis Fitzinger, 1843 are distributed across south and southeast Asia with five and eight nominate species, respectively. Despite their wide distribution, members of these genera are among some of the least-known colubrids. The two genera were considered synonymous in the past only to be separated later, and are defined on rather nebulose characters with a lack of support from molecular data. To test the monophyly of the two genera, we generated molecular data for the type species of Gongylosoma and species representing the two genera, including samples of Liopeltis rappii (Günther, 1860) from the western Himalayas. Results recovered paraphyly of Liopeltis, especially with regard to the genus Gongylosoma. Morphological data supports recognizing the western and eastern populations of L. rappii as two distinct species. The findings from our integrative taxonomic approach advocate establishing a new genus to embody Liopeltis rappii and a new allied species from the central and western Himalayas. A rediagnosis and revised classification of the genera Gongylosoma and Liopeltis is presented. The results further hint at cryptic diversity across members of the two genera, warranting scrutiny of the most widespread members of the group.
Keywords: Cryptic species, MicroCT, Phylogeny, Reptilia, Serpentes, Taxonomy
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| Anguiculus dicaprioi gen. et sp. nov. in life, (a) holotype female NCBS NRC-AA-0013, Photo by Virender Bharadwaj; (b) uncollected individual from Nainital, Uttarakhand. Photo by Vipul Ramanuj. |
Anguiculus gen. nov.
Type species: Anguiculus dicaprioi gen. et. sp. nov.
Species included: Anguiculus rappii comb. nov. (Günther, 1860),
Anguiculus dicaprioi sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Small-sized snakes characterized by 15 smooth DSR throughout; head not distinct form neck in adults; internasal not fused with nasal; nasal divided bearing a laterally oriented nostril between the two; eye of moderate size (not large) in relation to the head; 177–192 ventral scales; 57–75 subcaudal scales; anal divided; prefrontal not in contact with supralabial, 6 supralabials (rarely 5), extending beyond the angle of the jaw; loreal present; 1 preocular, 2 postoculars and temporals 1 + 1. The supraoccipital is chevron-shaped. The maxilla bears 22–24 subequal functional teeth. The teeth are arranged in a continuous manner, lacking a diastema, and no enlargement of teeth is observed. The basisphenoid bears median foramen. Hemipenis unilobed, distal less than half of the organ calyculate or spinose; numerous subequal spines present except for two large ones at the base; the organ lacks folds.
Etymology: The generic epithet is a Latin masculine noun that refers to a ‘small snake’. The proposed nomen highlights the small size (SVL) of members of the new genus in relation to members of the family Colubridae. Suggested common English name ‘Himalayan snake’.
New genus
𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒖𝒔 ZMirza, Bhardwaj, Pal, Lalremsanga, Vogel, Campbell & Patel, 2024
Species included:
𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒊 Mirza, Bhardwaj, Pal, Lalremsanga, Vogel, Campbell & Patel, 2024
: Central and Western Himalayas (Nepal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh).
𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒊 (Günther, 1860)
: Eastern Himalayas (Sikkim, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh)
Zeeshan A. Mirza, Virender K. Bhardwaj, Saunak Pal, H. T. Lalremsanga, Gernot Vogel, Patrick D. Campbell and Harshil Patel. 2024. Phylogeny and Systematics of the colubrid snake Genera Liopeltis and Gongylosoma (Squamata: Colubridae) and Description of A New Himalayan endemic Genus and Species. Scientific Reports. 14: 24743. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74271-1
