DENDROPHIDION PAUCICARINATUM

Catalogue ofAmerican Amphibians and .

Lieb, C.S. 1991. Dsndropbidionpaucicannatum ~ropbidionpaadcarinaturn (Cope) Talamanca Forest Racer

LhymobiuspaucicariMtusCope,1894:202. Type locality, 'Ia Can- delaria," Costa Rica, believed by Savage (1974) to represent Monte Redondo, in Cant611 deAserri, San Jose Province. Holo- type, ArnericanMuseum of Natural History 17268, adult female, collected by Bruno Carnnzl, date unknown (examined by au- thor). Dsndmpbidionpaucican~lur:Stuart, 1933:9. Dendmpbidionpaucicarinahrm.Savage, 197514.

Content. This is monotypic.

Map. Solid circlerepresents type locality, open cirdes indicate other localities. The approximate geographic range is suggested by the shaded area.

Definition. Dendmpbidiapaucicarinatumis a species of Dendmpbidionreaching a maximum total length of 138cm and with 17dorsal scale rows anteriorlyand 15posteriorly. Usually 13or fewer rows are keeled in adults. Ventrals range from 179-195, subaudals from 119-139. The doadscute is usually divided. Thedorsocaudal scale row reduction from eight to six rows occurs between subcaudds 7 and 24. Hemipenes of mdes are without proximal ornamentation, but have sdhooklets distally. Dorsal coloration of adults is uniform gray, gray-green, or brown. Juveniles have narrow dark and pale aossbands one to two scale rows wide. Ventral coloration in life is white to bright lemon yellow; in adults, dark gray suffusions are present medially on the margins of the ventral scales.

Magnosis. Dendmpbidionpaucicarinatummaybe distin- guished from all congeners by its relatively high number of ventral scales. Additional diagnostic character states, shared with at least one other species of Dendmpbidion (given in parentheses), indude: dorsoaud scale row reduction occurring anterior to subcaudal scale 25 (D. bnmneum, D. basbelli, D. pemarinatum), uniform Figure 1. Dorsal view of an adult male Dendnybbidion pauci- dorsum in adults (D. brunneum), and dark suffusions on the ventral carindum (KU 63788), from Cichom, Alajuela Prov., Costa Riu. scales (D. bnmneum, D. nucba4 D. dendmpbis). Photograph by Lury David Wilson. DeserIptioas. Descriptive information is provided by Cope (18941, Stuart (1933), Taylor (19511, and Lieb (1988).

Illustrations. The species has not been heretofore illus- trated

Distrhution. Dendmpbidimpaucicannatum is restricted to mid-and upper elevations (ca. 1000-1600 m) of the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica, and the Cordillera Talamanca of Costa Rica and western Pan&.

Fossil Record None.

Pertinent Literamre. Smut (1933) compared a few indi- viduals of D. mucicarinatum from Panam5 with the tvoe. distin- guished the s&cies from D. dendmphis(Schlegel), and s;'&ized the known distributionalinformation Dunn(l947)listedthe. . .. soecies as put of the fauna of the IRrida and Bosuete reaions of &tern ~&i.peters and~rejas-~iranda(1970) providedg synonomyand a sumof distribution. Wilson (1970) mentioned the s~eciesin context oi misidentified ~rymobiimehnotmpis in mu&um cd- lections. savage and Viia (1986) indicatedthe &rribution of the form inCosta Rica, and included the taxon in their identification keys. Villa et al. (1988)provided a bibliography. Lieb (1988) summarized oved relationships, distribution, and variation.

Figure 2. Ventral view of an adult male Dendropbidion pauci- Etymology. The narnepaucicanhutumis a compound Latin carinaturn (KU 63788), from Cichona, Alajuela Prov., Costa Rica. adjective @auci + cannutus) that translates as 'few-keeled' The Photograph by Lury David Wilson. intent of the describer (Cope, 1894) seems to have been to comple- ment his choice of the epithet psnarinafzufor a second, more heav- Ria. Soc. Study Amphib. Rept. Contr. Hap. wvii + 207 p. ily keeled Costa Rican species described in an earlier work. The -urn Stuart, LC. 1933. Studies on Neofropical . III. The taxo- emis appropriate for the gender of the (neuter). nomic status of certain Neotropid racers. Copeia 1933:PlO. Taylor, E.H. 1951. A brief review of the of Costa Ria. Untv. Literawe Cited Kansas Sci. Bull. 341-188. Vi,J., L.D. Wilson,and J.D. Johnson 1988.Middle American hapo Cope, E.D. 1894. Third addifion to a knowledge of the Batrachia and tology: A bibliographicchecklist. Univ. Missouri Press, Colum- Reptilia of Costa Ria. Proc. Aad. Nat. Sci Philadelphia 1894: bia. 194-206. Wilson. LD. 1970.A review of the cbbvutolicur IVOUP of the colubrid Dunn, E.R. 1947. Snakes of the Lerida Farm (Chiriqui volcano, west- genus Dvymobius, withnotes ona t&-&@formof D. em Panunl. Cop& 1947153-157. cbbrotW(Cope) from southan Mexico. J. Herpetd. 4:155 Lieb, C.S. 1988. Systematic status of the Neotropid snakes Dsndm- pbidion dendmpbic and D. nucbalir (Colubriie). Herpetolo- gica 44:162-175. Peters,JA. andB. Orq'as-Miranda. 1970. CatalogueoftheNeoVopid Carl S. Ueb, Laboratory for Environmental Bidogy, University of . Part I. Snakes. Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus. (297):l-347. Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 799680519. 1973. Savage,JM. A preliminuy handlist oftheherpetofauna of GXU Primary -Ria. ~niversii~ raph hi&, Los Angeles, ~alifornia. editor for this account, Larry David Wilson -1974.Type localities for species of amphibians and reptiles des- Published 15 October 1991 andCopyright @ 1991 by the Socieqfor cribed frbrncoota Ria. k.Biol. ~r6~.22:71-122. - -and J. Villa R. 1986. Introduction to the herpetofauna of Cost? the Studv of Arnohibians and Remiles.