Molecular phylogeny of the tribe Philodryadini Cope, 1886 (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae): Rediscovering the diversity of the South American Racers
Author
Arredondo, Juan Camilo
Author
Grazziotin, Felipe G.
Author
Scrocchi, Gustavo J.
Author
Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut
Author
Bonatto, Sandro Luís
Author
Zaher, Hussam
text
Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia
2020
Pap. Avulsos Zool., S. Paulo
2020-10-20
60
1
14
http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.53
journal article
10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.53
1807-0205
4983748
30684314-ABD0-4952-96E4-B6A864D1CDE3
Genus
Xenoxybelis
Machado, 1993
resurrected
Type
species:
Coluber argenteus
Daudin, 1803
, by original designation.
Synonyms:
Oxybelis
Wagler, 1830
;
Philodryas
Wagler, 1830
.
Content:
(two species)
Xenoxybelis argenteus
(Daudin, 1803)
;
Xenoxybelis boulengeri
(Procter, 1923)
species name revalidated.
Diagnosis:
Xenoxybelis
can be distinguished from the other genera of
Philodryadini
by the following combination of characters: markedly elongated snout, forming an acuminated and sharp head shape; large number of prediastemal maxillary teeth (16-21), followed by one or two grooved postdiastemal teeth; short heart-shaped hemipenes with a well-defined papillate longitudinal crest, formed by the confluence of the body calyces, that runs medially in the asulcate surface; lateral surfaces of hemipenes covered with two to four rows of well-developed enlarged lateral spines (
Fig. 4
).
Geographical distribution:
Both species occur in the Amazonian region,from
Colombia
and Guianas to
Bolivia
and
Paraguay
(
Cunha
& Nascimento, 1978
;
Prudente
et al.,
2008
).
Etymology:
The generic name of the South American Vine snake
Xenoxybelis
is formed by the Greek words
Xenos-
(adjective, ξέΝΟς, meaning “different”),
-oxy-
(adjective, Οξύς, meaning “sharp”), and
-belos
(noun, βέΛΟς, meaning “dart”), in reference to their external similarity with the unrelated Neotropical Vine snake genus
Oxybelis
Wagler, 1830
.
Comment:
Zaher
et al.
(2009)
and
Grazziotin
et al.
(2012)
placed
Xenoxybelis
and
Pseudablabes
under the synonymy of
Philodryas
.
With this nomenclatural act,
Philodryas boulengeri
Werner, 1909
and
Philodryas boulengeri
(Procter, 1923)
became secondary homonyms (
Grazziotin
et al.,
2012
),resulting in the proposition of the new replacement name
georgeboulengeri
for the latter species.According to our phylogenetic results, returning
Philodryas georgeboulengeri
(Procter,1923)
to the revalidated genus
Xenoxybelis
eliminates the homonymy. Therefore, we revalidate the species name
Xenoxybelis boulengeri
(Procter, 1923)
.