Taxonomic revision of the Dasypus kappleri complex, with revalidations of Dasypus pastasae (Thomas, 1901) and Dasypus beniensis Lönnberg, 1942 (Cingulata, Dasypodidae)
Author
Feijó, Anderson
Author
Cordeiro-Estrela, Pedro
text
Zootaxa
2016
4170
2
271
297
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4170.2.3
5f293e28-4f71-4042-a192-6a23feb15b70
1175-5326
265398
9E3AE604-3656-4B0A-B09A-C970200BF5F6
Dasypus kappleri
Krauss, 1862
Das[ypus].
Peba
:
Burmeister, 1848
: 199. Not
Dasypus peba
Desmarest, 1822
(=
Dasypus novemcinctus
Linnaeus, 1758
)
Dasypus kappleri
Krauss, 1862
:20
(original description)
Dasypus pentadactylus
Peters, 1864
:179
Lectotype
.
Krauss (1862)
listed four specimens of
Dasypus kappleri
(one adult
male, one adult female, and two juvenile skulls
).
Wetzel & Mondolfi (1979)
selected the adult female specimen
SMN
285 (Stuttgart Museum) as the
lectotype
of
Dasypus kappleri
Krauss, 1862
(
Figure 6
and
7
).
Type
locality
. “Aus den Urwäldern des Marowiniflusses in Surinam.”
Husson (1978)
suggested that
Krauss (1862)
described this species probably from “the neighborhood of Albina, near the mouth of Marowijne river, Surinam.”
FIGURE 6.
Lectotype of
Dasypus kappleri
Krauss, 1862
(adult female—SMN 285). Photo: Stefan Merker.
Etymology.
Krauss named this species to honor August Kappler, a German naturalist who dedicated part of his life to studying the fauna of
Suriname
and also collected part of the
type
series of
Dasypus kappleri
.
Diagnosis.
Dasypus kappleri
can be recognized externally by its unique pattern of smooth, flattened, and uniform scales on the pelvic shield, with the central and peripheral scales at the same level, as well as by keeled scales on the proximal tail rings. Cranially,
D. kappleri
has a prominent lateral palatine crest raised above the bony surface, and its posterior terminus is conspicuously swollen; the posterior border of the palatine is straight and exhibits a rectangular and prominent tentorial process of the parietals.
Distribution.
Dasypus kappleri
occurs in
French Guiana
,
Suriname
,
Guyana
, and eastern
Venezuela
; in
Brazil
, it is found east of the Rio Negro-Rio Branco and north of the lower Amazon River (
Figure 8
). This entire region is known as the
Guiana
shield or
Guiana
subregion of
Amazonia
.
Measurements.
Dasypus kappleri
is intermediate in skull size compared to
D. pastasae
and
D. beniensis
, except for the APL, ML, PIB, AML and HM, in which it is slightly larger than the other species (see
Table 4
).
Remarks.
Two pregnant females, each with two fetuses, were collected in
18 and 19 January
of 1969 from the
Rio Grande
,
Bolivar
,
Venezuela
(
EBRG
1415
and 1416).
Specimens
examined (locality numbers as in
Figure 8
).
BRAZIL
:
3 (
MN
20581
), 4 (
MPEG
7128
), 5 (
MZUSP
19967
), 6 (
MZUSP
24798
), 7 (
MPEG
7127
), 10 (
MPEG
8907
), 12 (
MPEG
12591
), 13 (
INPA
303
), 14 (
MN
26917,
MN
26931,
MPEG
22130
,
MPEG
22131
).
FRENCH GUIANA
: 28 (
AMNH
267011
).
GUYANA
: 29 (
AMNH
48132
), 30 (
AMNH
48131
,
AMNH
48222
,
AMNH
64118
,
AMNH
64119
).
VENEZUELA
: 39 (
EBRG
3180
), 40 (
EBRG
1417
), 41 (
EBRG
1691
), 45 (
EBRG
17555
), 46 (
EBRG
1415
,
EBRG
1416
,
EBRG
1490
,
EBRG
1491
,
EBRG
231
,
EBRG
570
,
EBRG
582
,
EBRG
604
); and photographs of the
lectotype
(
SMN
285).