Systematics of Cryptic & Cryptozoic Snakes
Discovery of a new species of green palm-pitviper (Viperidae: Bothriechis) from the Chortís Highlands of Mesoamerica
Townsend, Josiah H., Melissa Medina-Flores, Larry David Wilson, Robert C. Jadin, and James D. Austin. 2013. A relict lineage of green palm-pitviper (Squamata: Viperidae: Bothriechis) from the Chortís Highlands of Mesoamerica. ZooKeys 298: 77–105. Download here
Abstract - new species of palm-pitviper of the genus Bothriechis is described from Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat in northern Honduras. The new species differs from congeners by having 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody, a bright green dorsal coloration in adults, the prelacunal scale fused to the second supralabial, and in representing a northern lineage that is sister to Bothriechis lateralis, which is distributed in Costa Rica and western Panama and is isolated from the new taxon by the Nicaraguan Depression. This represents the 15th endemic species occurring in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, one of the richest herpetofaunal sites in Honduras, itself being the country with the highest degree of herpetofaunal endemism in Central America. We name this new species in honor of a Honduran conservationist slain in fighting against illegal logging, highlighting the sacrifices of rural activists in battling these issues and the critical importance of conservation in these areas.
Townsend, Josiah H., Melissa Medina-Flores, Larry David Wilson, Robert C. Jadin, and James D. Austin. 2013. A relict lineage of green palm-pitviper (Squamata: Viperidae: Bothriechis) from the Chortís Highlands of Mesoamerica. ZooKeys 298: 77–105. Download here
Abstract - new species of palm-pitviper of the genus Bothriechis is described from Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat in northern Honduras. The new species differs from congeners by having 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody, a bright green dorsal coloration in adults, the prelacunal scale fused to the second supralabial, and in representing a northern lineage that is sister to Bothriechis lateralis, which is distributed in Costa Rica and western Panama and is isolated from the new taxon by the Nicaraguan Depression. This represents the 15th endemic species occurring in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, one of the richest herpetofaunal sites in Honduras, itself being the country with the highest degree of herpetofaunal endemism in Central America. We name this new species in honor of a Honduran conservationist slain in fighting against illegal logging, highlighting the sacrifices of rural activists in battling these issues and the critical importance of conservation in these areas.
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A new species of centipede snake in the Tantilla taeniata group (Squamata: Colubridae) from premontane forest in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, Honduras
Townsend JH, LD Wilson, M Medina-Flores, and LA Herrera-B. 2013. A new species of centipede snake in the Tantilla taeniata group (Squamata: Colubridae) from premontane forest in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, Honduras. Journal of Herpetology 47(1): 191–200. Download here
Abstract - A new species of Tantilla is described from Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texiguat in northern Honduras. The new species is allocated to the Tantilla taeniata group, which currently contains 20 of the 63 species in the genus, but it differs from all congeners on the basis of its dorsal body pattern and scutellation. The new species has a pale mid-dorsal stripe composed of narrow spots, confined to the mid dorsal row, and a lateral coloration of pale spots on each of rows 1, 2, and 4 with dark brown pigment on the lateral edges of the ventrals. The new species appears to have no close affinities within the T. taeniata group. Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texı´guat is one of the most important cloud and premontane rain forest
reserves in eastern nuclear Central America with respect to evolution, species endemism, and conservation. Nonetheless, areas of this reserve are seriously imperiled, especially on the leeward side due to continuing illegal logging and forest clearing for subsistence agriculture.
Townsend JH, LD Wilson, M Medina-Flores, and LA Herrera-B. 2013. A new species of centipede snake in the Tantilla taeniata group (Squamata: Colubridae) from premontane forest in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texíguat, Honduras. Journal of Herpetology 47(1): 191–200. Download here
Abstract - A new species of Tantilla is described from Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texiguat in northern Honduras. The new species is allocated to the Tantilla taeniata group, which currently contains 20 of the 63 species in the genus, but it differs from all congeners on the basis of its dorsal body pattern and scutellation. The new species has a pale mid-dorsal stripe composed of narrow spots, confined to the mid dorsal row, and a lateral coloration of pale spots on each of rows 1, 2, and 4 with dark brown pigment on the lateral edges of the ventrals. The new species appears to have no close affinities within the T. taeniata group. Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texı´guat is one of the most important cloud and premontane rain forest
reserves in eastern nuclear Central America with respect to evolution, species endemism, and conservation. Nonetheless, areas of this reserve are seriously imperiled, especially on the leeward side due to continuing illegal logging and forest clearing for subsistence agriculture.
