Herpetology Notes, volume 10: 345-347 (2017) (published online on 30 June 2017)
New records of Liotyphlops trefauti Freire, Caramaschi & Argôlo, 2007 (Squamata: Anomalepididae)
Arthur Diesel Abegg1,*, Marco Antonio de Freitas2 and Geraldo Jorge Barbosa de Moura3
The genus Liotyphlops Peter, 1860 comprises small original description was another specimen found, in the snakes, widely distributed in the Neotropical region municipality of Traipu, in the state of Alagoas, within (Greene, 1997; Freire et al., 2007; Hegdes, 2008). They the phytogeographic domain of the Caatinga, resulting are characterized by fossorial habits, preying on ants in the fourth known locality for L. trefauti (Gonçalves et and termites, and have reduced eyes� and smooth and al., 2016). In this study, we present two new records for shiny scales without enlargement of the ventral scales, a distinct pair of pre-frontals or head covered by small scales and teeth in the lower jaws (Dixon and Kofron; 1984; Greene, 1997). This is the largest genus within the family Anomalepididae and ten species are currently recognized: Liotyphlops albirostris (Peters, 1857); L. anops (Cope, 1899); L. argaleus Dixon & Kofron, 1984; L. beui (Amaral, 1924); L. caissara Centeno, Sawaya & Germano, 2010; L. haadi Silva-Haad, Franco & Maldonado, 2008; L. schubarti Vanzolini, 1948; L. ternetzii (Boulenger, 1896); L. trefauti Freire, Caramaschi & Argôlo, 2007; L. wilderi (Garman, 1883) (Uetz and Hošek, 2016). The species Liotyphlops trefauti is poorly known. Freire et al. (2007) described L. trefauti from only three specimens, from the phytogeographical domain of the Atlantic Forest, in the northeastern region of Brazil, from the states of Alagoas (Bananeira Farm, in the municipality of Murici and Mata da Cachoeira, in the municipality of São José da Laje) and Bahia (municipality of Ilhéus). Only ten years after the
1 Instituto Butantan, Laboratório Especial de Coleções Zoológicas, Avenida Vital Brasil, 1.500, Butantã, CEP 05503-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. 2 Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), ESEC Murici, Rua Marino Vieira de Araújo 32, Cidade Alta, CEP 57820-000, Murici, AL, Brazil. 3 Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Departamento de Biologia, Laboratório de Estudos Herpetológicos e Figure 1. Distribution map for Liotyphlops trefauti, with the Paleoherpetológicos, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, new records in Teotônio Vilela and Tamandaré (red symbols), Dois Irmãos, CEP 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil. states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, respectively. Other symbols * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected] represent literature records. 346 Arthur Diesel Abegg et al.
southeast of the first in Traipu (Gonçalves et al., 2016). The first record of L. trefauti for the state of Pernambuco increases the distribution of the species in the northeast of the municipality of São José da Laje. The specimens were identified based on external morphology using literature data (Freire et al., 2007). Currently only two other species of the Liotyphlops genus are recorded in the northeastern region of Brazil: L. ternetzii and L. cf. wilderi (Freitas, 2015; Freitas et al., 2016). Liotyphlops trefauti is easily distinguished from these two species by the dorsal color pattern (bright yellowish to reddish brown vs blackened in L. ternetzii and L. cf. wilderi), and the presence of four scales contacting the posterior border of the pre-frontal scale (vs. three in L. ternetzii and L. cf. wilderi). �n addition, our specimen is in agreement with the diagnosis of the species, according to Freire et al. (2007). In a recent national assessment of the risk of extinction of Brazilian fauna, L. trefauti was classified as Data Deficient (DD) (MMA, 2014).�ccording to the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), species classified as NT (Near Threatened) or DD are considered priorities for research on conservation status, according to MMA Ordinance No. 444/2014. Thus, new records on L. trefauti are also important to reinforce the importance and biological richness of its centers of endemicity, Figure 2. Specimen of Liotyphlops trefauti (CHP-UFRPE especially the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil, 0653) observed in the Reserva Biológica de Saltinho, whose snake fauna is very distinct (Barbo, 2012; Moura municipality of Tamandaré (������������������������������ et al., 2016). This species yet is strongly impacted by Pernambuco, Brazil. A) Dorsolateral body view; B) Head anthropogenic activities (Coibra-Filho and Câmara, view. 1996), suggesting that populations may be exposed to strong ecological pressures, especially from changes in natural environments, forest fragmentation, and habitat loss. L. trefauti, one of these the northernmost for the species and the first for the state of Pernambuco, northeastern Acknowledgements. To the Instituto Chico Mendes de Brazil. Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), for the permit to The new records were obtained from specimens collect specimens (SISBio 53914-1). collected in the municipalities of Teotônio Vilela (Alagoas State) and Tamandaré (Pernambuco State) References
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Accepted by Hendrik Müller