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Home , Amerotyphlops, Amphisbaenidae, Leposternon, Virado

Herpetology Notes, volume 12: 221-224 (2019) (published online on 26 January 2019)

Noteworthy insular records of burrowing in Southeastern

Arthur Diesel Abegg1,2,*, Weverton dos Santos Azevedo1, and Marcelo Ribeiro Duarte1

Soil herpetofauna biodiversity is conservatively South America, occurring in almost all habitats (Arruda estimated as 2775 , made up of 10% and 28% of et al., 2011). However, only one insular record is known Amphibia and , respectively; they are neglect in for this species (MCP 7722), from Ratones Grande their , ecology and standard sampling methods island (27.4759 °S, 48.5628 °W), of the state of Santa suggests that proportions, as well as numbers, are likely Catarina, Sourtheastern Brazil, and a recent review of A. to be far higher (Measey, 2006). In the last few years, brongersmianus distribution (Graboski et al., 2015) new species have been described for South America, reveals no insular records for this species in Southeastern most discovered during surveys carried out in previously Brazil. Herein, four L. microcephalum specimens (Fig. unexplored regions (Rodrigues et al., 2003; Ribeiro, et 1A), and one A. brongersmianus specimen (Fig. 1B) al., 2008, 2018; Centeno, et al., 2010; Oliveira, et al., are reported from Moela Island (24.0498 °S, 46.2635 2018). In the last years, some herpetological fieldwork °W), 2.5 km off the coast of the state of São Paulo, carried out in the coastal islands of Southeastern Brazil Southeastern Brazil. have provided opportunities for recording poorly known All records (Fig. 2) were obtained through occasional species, as well as registering new insular distributions. encounters by lighthouse keepers, who collected the In this study, new insular records for the Small Head specimens and sent them to the Instituto Butantan, in Worm microcephalum and the São Paulo, Reference Collection (IBSPCR), Brazil: first insular record for the Brongersma’s Worm L. microcephalum: IBSPCR 0108, 07/X/2010, Snout– Amerotyphlops brongersmianus in Southeastern Brazil vent length (SVL): 360 + Tail length (TL): 23 mm, are reported. mass: 40 g; IBSPCR 0109, 21/11/2010, (SVL): 255 + The worm lizard Leposternon microcephalum Wagler, (TL): 17 mm, mass: 20 g; IBSPCR 0110, 07/10/2010, 1824 (Squamata, ) is the most widely (SVL): 389 + (TL): 18 mm, mass: 45 g; IBSPCR 0111, distributed species belonging to this , with records no date, (SVL): 436 + 26 mm, mass: 53 g; IBSPCR from Brazil, , , Argentina and Uruguay, 0637, no date, (SVL): 290 + 16 mm, mass: 28 g. A. in several phytogeographic regions (Ribeiro et al., 2008). brongersmianus IBSP 87402, ca. 2002, (SVL):171 + About one hundred specimens have been recorded in (TL): 6 mm, mass: 5 g. land-bridge islands off the southeastern coast of Brazil, Considering that one-fifth of the Brazilian worm lizard of which 80% were recorded at Búzios and Vitória species are known from a single locality, and that range islands, 55 years ago; the blind snake Amerotyphlops size is a better conservation status predictor for these brongersmianus (Vanzolini, 1972) is widespread in Brazilian reptiles (Colli et al., 2016), new records are particularly important for this group. A case of passive L. microcephalum transport was recorded at Fernando de Noronha Island (Vanzolini, 1978). Perhaps one of the first records of an insular amphisbaenid vouchered 1 Laboratório Especial de Coleções Zoológicas, Instituto in a Brazilian herpetological collection was the Butantan, Av. Vital Brasil, 1500, São Paulo, 05503-900, São endemic ridleyi collected by American Paulo, Brazil. geologist John Casper Branner in 1876, at Fernando de ² Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Instituto de Biociências (IB-USP), Rua do Matão, 14, São Paulo, 05508-090, São Noronha (Branner, 1888), and according to the author, Paulo, Brazil. deposited at the Museu Nacional in , * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Brazil. However, this specimen is lost (Manoela W. 222 Arthur Diesel Abegg et al.

Figure 1. (A) L. microcephalum (IBSPCR 0110) and (B) A. brongersmianus (IBSP 87402) specimens from Moela Island, in thH state of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil.

Cardoso, pers. comm.). In general, insular records for characterize it as new taxa. However, all the examined L. microcephalum are scarce, except for Búzios Island, diagnostic morphological data insert the specimen of A. in the state of São Paulo, which contains 65 specimens brongersmianus, as well as those of L. microcephalum, deposited at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de within the known morphological variation for these São Paulo (Aline S. Benetti, pers. comm.). Other records species (Dixon and Hendricks, 1979; Ribeiro et al., can be found in Ribeiro et al. (2018), who report a single2018). Thus, no features distinguish (= unique state or specimen from Arvoredo Island (MZUSP 67047), combination of characters) these putative taxa of their state of , Southern Brazil; one from widely distributed continental species in their current Alcatrazes (MZUSP 6496 and São Sebastião islands concepts. (MZUSP 6525), two from Queimada Grande IslandAnother interesting question in relation to island species (MZUSP 77031, 77032) and four from Mar Virado is that they can present a regime growth distinct from Island (MHNCI 7238, MZUSP 77027, 77028, 78431), continental populations (or related species), leading to all in São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. In addition to dwarfism or gigantism (Foster, 1964; Van Valen, 1973). the specimens reported in this study for Moela Island, This phenomenon has been recorded for of the voucher specimens from Cardoso (MZUSP 94258) and genus Bothrops in the coastal islands of Southeastern Ratones Grande islands (MCP 7723) are also available Brazil, for which the tendency is for a decrease in body in zoological collections. Thus, L. microcephalum size (Barbo et al., 2016). In general, snake dwarfism currently has records in 10 islands off southeast and is associated with reduced availability of prey in the south coasts of Brazil. environment (Boback, 2003; Keogh et al., 2005). The A. brongersmianus record is particularly Indeed, Bothrops island species that exhibit dwarfism remarkable, as no record of this species is known for the have altered their diets to prey on mainly arthropods, coast of the state of São Paulo (Dixon and Hendricks, possibly in response to the absence of rodents in the 1979; Graboski et al., 2015). Considering the strong islands, the main food item of the continental species geographic isolation in light of the evolutionary (Sazima, 1992; Barbo et al., 2016). However, for the species concept put forth by Wiley (1978), the A. specimens of A. brongersmianus and L. microcephalum brongersmianus population from Moela Island, as well of the present study, no obvious change in body size as all the island populations of L. microcephalum, should was observed. Although we have not examined the diet represent lineages that have evolved separately from of the insular specimens here, this is probably explained the others, whose particular evolutionary history could by the availability of prey (invertebrates) in the islands, Noteworthy insular records of burrowing reptiles in Southeastern Brazil 223

References

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Accepted by Mirco Solé