A new dwarf gecko of the genus Pseudogonatodes (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) from the eastern slope of the Andean Cordillera de Mrida in northern South America.

Pseudogonatodes is a poorly known genus of small bodied, diurnal, ground-dwelling geckos widely distributed in northern South America. No additional species have been described in over two decades. Herein we describe a new species from the eastern slope of the Cordillera de Mrida in the Venezuelan Andes.

Embryonic development of the neotropical pit viper Bothrops atrox (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae), with emphasis on pit organ morphogenesis and its evolution in snakes.

Background: Bothrops atrox is a pit viper with a loreal pit organ, and its embryological development remains undescribed. Here, we provide a comprehensive description of the embryology of B. atrox, focusing on the loreal pit organ and cephalic scales.

Co-occurrence patterns between false coral snake Atractus latifrons (Günther, 1868) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) and venomous coral snakes from the Amazon.

Batesian mimicry may result in remarkable cases of phenotypic convergence that represent classic examples of evolution through natural selection. The existence of mimicry systems among coral snakes, however, remains controversial because of contradictions between the predictions of mimetic theory and the empirical patterns of co-occurrence and species abundance. Here, we analyze the geographic distribution of coral snake species of the genus Micrurus and populations of the false coral snake Atractus latifrons in Amazonia, and perform ecological niche modeling (ENM) analyzes to generate potential geographic distributions of species of Micrurus and A.

Unwrapping broken tails: Biological and environmental correlates of predation pressure in limbless reptiles.

Studying species interactions in nature often requires elaborated logistics and intense fieldwork. The difficulties in such task might hinder our ability to answer questions on how biotic interactions change with the environment. Fortunately, a workaround to this problem lies within scientific collections.

Taxonomy of the Micrurus spixii species complex (Serpentes, Elapidae).

Historically, the Micrurus spixii species complex comprises four subspecies (M. s. spixii, M.

Taxonomic revision of the Erythrolamprus reginae species group, with description of a new species from Guiana Shield (Serpentes: Xenodontinae).

We perform a review of the Erythrolamprus reginae species group and putative related taxa (E. dorsocorallinus, E. zweifeli, and E.

Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes.

Motivation: We generated a novel database of Neotropical snakes (one of the world's richest herpetofauna) combining the most comprehensive, manually compiled distribution dataset with publicly available data. We assess, for the first time, the diversity patterns for all Neotropical snakes as well as sampling density and sampling biases.

Main Types Of Variables Contained: We compiled three databases of species occurrences: a dataset downloaded from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a verified dataset built through taxonomic work and specialized literature, and a combined dataset comprising a cleaned version of the GBIF dataset merged with the verified dataset.

A new species of Imantodes Duméril, 1853 (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia.

We describe a new species of Imantodes, morphologically similar to I. chocoensis, from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. This new species is distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of morphological characters: smooth dorsal scale rows 17/17/15; apical pits absent; infralabials 12-13; ventrals 227-236; subcaudals 147-148; presence of loreal scale; cloacal plate divided; dark temporal stripe on the suture between the lower edge of temporal scales and upper region of supralabials; dorsum of body light brown with dark brown transversal streaks, weakly evident in lateral view; hemipenis in situ extending to the level of 11 subcaudal and reaches the 10 subcaudal when everted; hemipenis with sulcus spermaticus expanded at the base of capitulum and extending distally.

Morphological variation and taxonomy of Atractus latifrons (Günther, 1868) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae).

As currently understood Atractus latifrons is widely distributed in South America, occurring from Suriname to the east of the Andes in Bolivia. Throughout this widespread distribution, at least three distinct color patterns were previously reported in the literature. Here, we test whether quantitative variation and qualitative distribution of morphological characters are correlated with any color pattern displayed by the species along its range.

Morphological variation and affinities of the poorly known snake Atractus caxiuana (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) .

Atractus caxiuana was recently described based on three specimens (two males and one female) from the Floresta Nacional de Caxiuanã, municipality of Melgaço, state of Pará, in the eastern portion of the Brazilian Amazon. Apart from the type series, no additional samples are known for the species. In this study, we report new specimens of A.