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| Luetkenotyphlus fredi
Maciel, Castro, Sturaro, Silva, Ferreira, Santos, Risse-Quaioto, Barboza, Oliveira, Sampaio & Schneider, 2019
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Abstract
Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis has been described 168 years ago, being the only known species of that genus up till date. However, the diversity of caecilian amphibians surprises once again, with the discovery of a new species of Luetkenotyphlus from remnants of the critically threatened Atlantic Forest, in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Herein we describe the new species on the basis of its morphology but also present a molecular phylogeny based on three genes (12S, 16S and COI) including more taxa of Siphonopidae together in a same phylogeny than the previous studies. Our phylogeny did not support the monophyly of Siphonops as currently defined, because Siphonops insulanus was recovered within Luetkenotyphlus, forming a monophyletic group, sister to a clade of three Siphonops spp. We have examined a specimen of S. insulanus from the type locality (Ilha de São Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil) revealing a shorter premaxillary-maxillary tooth series in comparison to Siphonops. Based on our results, we also allocated S. insulanus to Luetkenotyphlus in order to avoid paraphyly.
Keywords: Neotropical region, Molecular phylogeny, Taxonomy, Caecilians, Siphonops
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| Fig. 5. Holotype of Luetkenotyphlus fredi sp. nov. (MPEG 41560) a few minutes after euthanasia. Left, dorsal view of the body. Right, ventral view of the body. |
Luetkenotyphlus fredi sp. nov.
Etymology. The name of the species is depicted in honor of Dr. Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha (Fred Rocha), for his important contributions to the knowledge of the herpetofauna worldwide and to its intense efforts for the conservation of the Atlantic forest.
Adriano Oliveira Maciel, Thiago M. de Castro, Marcelo José Sturaro, Izadora Emanuelle Costa Silva, Jordana Guimarães Ferreira, Rafael dos Santos, Bárbara Risse-Quaioto, Bruno Alenkine Barboza, Jane C.F. Oliveira, Iracilda Sampaio and Horacio Schneider. 2019. Phylogenetic Systematics of the Neotropical Caecilian Amphibian Luetkenotyphlus (Gymnophiona: Siphonopidae) including the Description of A New Species from the Vulnerable Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 281; 76-83. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2019.07.001
