Canopy Snail-eating Snake

description

Description of holotype. Adult female, SVL 321 mm, tail length 157 mm (48 % SVL); head length 15.4 mm (4.7 % SVL) from tip of snout to commissure of mouth; head width 8.0 mm (76 % head length) taken at broadest point; snout-orbit distance 3.3 mm; head distinct from neck; snout short, blunt in dorsal outline and rounded in profile; rostral 2.1 mm wide, higher than broad; internasals 1.6 mm wide, broader than long; prefrontals 1.9 mm wide, longer than broad, entering orbit; supraocular 3.7 mm long, longer than broad; frontal 3.2 mm long, pentagonal and with a straight anterior border, in contact with prefrontals, supraoculars, and parietals; parietals 5.2 mm long, longer than broad; nasal divided, in contact with first three supralabials, loreal, prefrontal, internasal, and rostral; loreal 1.7 mm long, longer than high, entering the orbit; eye diameter 3.0 mm; pupil semi-elliptical; no preocular; two postoculars; temporals 1 + 2; eight supralabials with 5 th and 6 th contacting orbit on the right side, seven supralabials with 4 th and 5 th contacting orbit on the left side; symphysial in contact with chinshields; nine infralabials with 2 nd- 5 th contacting chinshields; two pair of c

A consolidated phylogeny of snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, Dipsadini), with the description of five new species from Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama

description

Figs 2 c, 4 a, 5 b, 7 Proposed standard English name: Canopy Snail-eating Snake Proposed standard Spanish name: Culebra caracolera de dosel

A consolidated phylogeny of snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, Dipsadini), with the description of five new species from Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Sibon canopy sp. nov. is placed in the genus Sibon based on phylogenetic evidence (Fig. 1 a) and on having the penultimate supralabial conspicuously higher than all other supralabials. The species is diagnosed based on the following combination of characters: (1) 15 / 15 / 15 smooth dorsals with enlarged vertebral row (1.4 x as wide as adjacent rows); (2) loreal and prefrontal in contact with orbit; (3) 7 - 8 supralabials with, usually, 4 th, 5 th, and occasionally 6 th contacting orbit; (4) usually 7 - 8 infralabials with 2 nd- 6 th in contact with chinshields, first pair of infralabials not in contact behind symphysial due to presence of a postmental; (5) 180 - 189 ventrals in males, 170 - 185 in females; (6) 113 - 130 divided subcaudals in males, 107 - 124 in females; (7) dorsal background color olive with maroon bands (1 - 2 dorsal scales long mid-dorsally and 3 - 5 dorsal scales long on the lower flanks) and a reddish tint along the vertebral line (Fig. 2 c), ventral surfaces white with encroachment from the dorsal maroon blotches, dorsal aspect of head composed of broad irregular maroon to blackish blotches interspersed with olive to red blotches (Fig. 5 b), throat

A consolidated phylogeny of snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, Dipsadini), with the description of five new species from Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama

distribution

Distribution. Sibon canopy sp. nov. is known from 25 localities (listed in Suppl. material 2) in both the Atlantic and Pacific slopes of the Cordillera Central in western Panama, with a population on the slopes of El Valle Volcano. The species occurs over an estimated area of 8,089 km 2 and has been recorded at elevations 543 - 1641 m above sea level (Fig. 6).

A consolidated phylogeny of snail-eating snakes (Serpentes, Dipsadini), with the description of five new species from Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama