Abstract
We describe a new species of the genus Apostolepis found near São Salvador Hydroelectric Power Plant, municipality of São Salvador do Tocantins, in the central Cerrado ecoregion. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: presence of eleven dorsolateral stripes, five infralabial scales and the lack of preoculars scales. The new species shares some external characteristics mainly with A. arenaria, A. gaboi and A. nelsonjorgei, with which it is compared.
References
Allen, R.H. (1963) Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning. Dover Publications Inc. Mineola, New York, 592 pp.
Amaral, A. (1935) Estudos sôbre ophidios neotropicos. XXXIII. Novas espécies de ophidios da Colômbia. Memórias do Instituto Butantan, 9, 219–223.
Borges-Nojosa, D.M., Lima, D.C., Bezerra, C.H. & Harris, D.J. (2016) Two new species of Apostolepis Cope, 1862 (Serpentes: Elapomorphini) from Brejos de Altitude in northeastern Brazil. Revista Nordestina de Zoologia, 10 (2), 74–94.
Boulenger, G.A. (1896) Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum. Vol. 3. Trustees of the British Museum, London, 727 pp.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.54273Cope, E.D. (1862) On Elapomorphus, Sympholis and Coniophanes. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 13 [1861], 524.
Costa, H.C. & Bérnils, R.S. (2018) Répteis do Brasil e suas unidades federativas: lista de espécies. Herpetologia Brasileira, 7 (1), 11–57.
Cundall, D. & Irish, F. (2008). The snake skull. In: Gans, C., Gaunt, A.S., & Adler, K. (Eds.), Biology of the Reptilia. Vol. 20. Morphology. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, pp. 349–692.
Curcio, F.F., Nunes, P.M.S., Harvey, M.B. & Rodrigues, M.T. (2011) Redescription of Apostolepis longicaudata (Serpentes: Xenodontinae), with comments on its hemipenial morphology, and natural history. Herpetologica, 67 (3), 318–331.
https://doi.org/10.1655/HERPETOLOGICA-D-10-00043.1Dowling, H.G. (1951). A proposed standard system of counting ventrals in snakes. British Journal of Herpetology, 1, 97–99.
Ferrarezzi, H. (1993) Sistemática Filogenética de Elapomorphus, Phalotris e Apostolepis (Serpentes: Colubridae: Xenodontinae). MSc. Dissertation, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 277 pp.
Ferrarezzi, H., Barbo, F.E. & Albuquerque, C.E. (2005) Phylogenetic relationships of a new species of Apostolepis from Brazilian Cerrado, with notes on the assimilis group (Serpentes: Colubridae: Xenodontinae: Elapomorphini). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 45, 215–229.
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0031-10492005001600001Giraudo, A. & Scrocchi, G.J. (1998) A new species of Apostolepis (Serpentes: Colubridae) and comments on the genus in Argentina. Herpetologica, 54 (4), 470–476.
Gomes, J.F. (1915) Contribution to the knowledge of Brazilian snakes. Description of four new species and a new genus of opisthoglyphs. Annaes Paulistas de Medicina e Cirurgia, 4, 121–129.
Gomes, J.F. in Amaral, A. (1921) Últimos trabalhos inéditos de J. Florêncio Gomes: duas novas espécies de colubrideos opistoglyphos brasileiros (Philodryas oligolepis e Apostolepis longicaudata). Annaes Paulistas de Medicina e Cirurgia, 9, 157–163.
Harvey, M.B. (1999) Revision of Bolivian Apostolepis (Squamata, Colubridae). Copeia, 2, 388–409.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1447485Koslowsky, J. (1898) Ofidios de Mato-Grosso (Brasil). Revista del Museo de La Plata, 8 (1), 25–32.
Lema, T. (2001) Fossorial snake genus Apostolepis from South America (Serpentes: Colubridae: Elapomorphinae). Cuadernos de Herpetologia, 15, 29–43.
Lema, T. (2002a) Nova espécie de Apostolepis Cope do grupo dimidiata do Cerrado do Brasil (Serpentes, Elapomorphinae). Comunicações do Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia da PUCRS, Série Zoologia, 15 (2), 227–238.
Lema, T. (2002b) Nova espécie de Apostolepis do grupo lineatea do sudoeste do Brasil (Serpentes, Elapomorphinae). Facena, 18, 41–52.
Lema, T. (2003a) Geographical distribution of chromatic patterns in elapomorphine snakes (Colubridae), and species groups. Comunicações do Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia da PUCRS, série Zoologia, 16, 17–37.
Lema, T. (2003b) Descrição de nova espécie de Apostolepis Cope do Cerrado do Brasil, pertencente ao grupo dimidiata (Serpentes, Elapomorphinae). Acta Biológica Leopoldensia, 25 (1), 123–131.
Lema, T. (2004a) New species of Apostolepis Cope, 1861 from Caatinga belonging to assimilis group (Serpentes, Elapomorphinae). Comunicações do Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia da PUCRS, série Zoologia, 17 (1), 3–7.
Lema, T. (2004b) Description of a new species of Apostolepis Cope 1861 (Serpentes, Elapomorphinae) from Brazilian Cerrado. Acta Biologica Leopoldensia, 26 (1), 155–160.
Lema, T. (2004c) Nova espécie de Apostolepis Cope do estado de Rondônia, Brasil (Serpentes, Elapomorphinae). Comunicações do Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia da PUCRS, série Zoologia, 17 (2), 81–89.
Lema, T. & Renner, M.F. (2006) A new species of Apostolepis with striped pattern from Mato Grosso, Brasil (Serpentes, Elapomorphine). Ciência em movimento, 8, 13–18.
Lema, T. (2016) Description of new species of Apostolepis (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae: Elapomorphini) from Serra do Roncador, Central Brazil. Caderno de Pesquisa, série Biologia, 28 (1), 1–12.
https://doi.org/10.17058/cp.v28i1.7854Nogueira, C., Barbo, F.E. & Ferrarezzi, H. (2012) Redescription of Apostolepis albicollaris Lema, 2002, with a key for the species groups of the genus Apostolepis (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Elapomorphini). South American Journal of Herpetology, 7 (3), 213–225.
https://doi.org/10.2994/057.007.0303Peracca, M.G. (1904). Viaggio del Dr. A. Borelli nel Matto Grosso brasiliano e nel Paraguay, 1899. IX. Rettili ed anfibi. Bolletino del Museo Regionale de Torino, 19 (460), 1–15.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.11596Peters, W.C.H. (1869) Über neue Gattungen und neue oder weniger bekannte Arten von Amphibien (Eremias, Dicrodon, Euprepes, Lygosoma, Typhlops, Eryx, Rhynchonyx, Elapomorphus, Achalinus, Coronella, Dromicus, Xenopholis, Anoplodipsas, Spilotes, Tropidonotus). Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Berlin, 432–447.
Rodrigues, M.T. (1992) Herpetofauna das dunas interiores do rio São Francisco: Bahia: Brasil. V. Duas novas espécies de Apostolepis (Ophidia, Colubridae). Memórias do Instituto Butantan, 54, 53–59.
Ruthven, A.G. (1927) Description of an apparently new species of Apostolepis from Bolivia. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 188, 1–2.
Schlegel, H. (1837) Essai sur la Physionomie des Serpens. I. Partie descriptive. Schonekat, Amsterdam, 606 pp.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.4273Uetz, P., Freed, P. & Hošek, J. (2017) The Reptile Database. Available from: http://www.reptile-database.org (accessed 1 February 2018)
Wallach, V., Williams, K.L. & Boundy, J. (2014) Snakes of the World. A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1209 pp.
https://doi.org/10.1201/b16901Werner, F. (1924) Neue oder wenig bekannte Schlangen aus dem naturhistoris-Staatsmuseum in Wien. Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien, 133, 29–56.