A revision and key for the tribe Diaphorolepidini (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) and checklist for the genus Synophis
Author
Pyron, R. Alexander
Author
Arteaga, Alejandro
Author
Echevarría, Lourdes Y.
Author
Torres-Carvajal, Omar
text
Zootaxa
2016
4171
2
293
320
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4171.2.4
9529a751-bd3c-46a8-83d7-ea7641844e11
1175-5326
158885
CDE07944-2354-477E-A3DA-61B713858D0C
4.
Synophis calamitus
Hillis, 1990
Range.
Pacific Andean slopes of central and northern
Ecuador
, primarily in
Pichincha
,
Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas
, and
Cotopaxi
provinces, ~
1000–2300m
.
Populations
also occur in
Carchi province
(~
1900m
), and possibly
Chimborazo province
(~
800m
; see below).
Description.
Adult size ~
330–510mm
SVL and ~
190–280mm
TL (assuming>
330mm
SVL is adult), smooth nuchal scales; no nuchal collar; intranasals usually in contact but occasionally divided by rostral; usually 2 postoculars but occasionally 0 or 1; 8–11 infralabials; 7–9 supralabials; 157–166 ventrals; 96–125 subcaudals including possibly truncated tails,
100–113 in
females,
109–118 in
males; and (19–23)-19-17 dorsal scale-rows with single, weak keel.
Notes.
Includes a much larger range of specimens identified as
Synophis
aff.
bicolor
from the western Andes by
Pyron
et al.
(2015)
. The specimen from
Carchi province
in northern
Ecuador
(QCAZ5847) is morphologically identical to other
S. calamitus
populations (
Torres-Carvajal
et al.
2015
), but genetically distinct from the central Ecuadorean populations (
Figs. 1
,
4
). There is thus intraspecific genetic diversity in
S. calamitus
,
possibly related to the Río Mira as a geographic barrier to gene flow. The southernmost specimen, from
Chimborazo province
(CAS23612;
Fig. 4
), resembles both
S. calamitus
and
S. zaheri
.
We refer it here to
S. calamitus
, for which it is a southern range extension, but it may represent a northern range extension for
S. zaheri
or a new species. Collecting effort in this locality should be a priority.