Boettger's Sipo

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Chironius flavolineatus can be distinguished from all congeners by the following unique combination of states of character: first third of body black or dark gray; vertebral stripe yellowish or creamish white, distinct from dorsals of nape and extending throughout almost whole body length; head dorsum tan to brown, distinct from background color of first third of body; posterior temporal scale one; cloacal shield divided; maximum of two rows of keeled dorsal scales at midbody; ventral ground color completely creamish white or yellowish without ornamentation; dark longitudinal stripes (in “ zigzag ”) along midventral portion of subcaudals absent; hemipenis with no spinules separating calyces of apex from spines below region of constriction on asulcate side; sulcus spermaticus positioned on concave face of hemipenis in lateral view; ascending process of premaxilla perpendicular to longitudinal axis of skull; optic fenestra exceeding frontoparietal suture; posterior border of supratemporal not exceeding braincase; dorsoventral axis of quadrate straight, not moving away from longitudinal axis of skull. Comparisons. Chironius flavolineatus is distinguished from all currently

Taxonomic revision of Chironius flavolineatus (Jan, 1863) with description of a new species (Serpentes: Colubridae)

distribution

Distribution and natural history (Fig. 6). Chironius flavolineatus is distributed in the Chaco of department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia; department of Amambay, Paraguay, and the Cerrado, Caatinga, Amazonian, and Atlantic Forest biomes in Brazil throughout the states of Amazonas, Amapá, Maranhão, Pará, Tocantins, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo from 3 – 1171 m above sea level, hereafter asl (generally 100 – 400 m asl). We examined photographs of a supposed specimen of C. flavolineatus from Peru (UNMSM 2889) (Lehr 2002) and concluded this specimen is not a C. flavolineatus as it has no vertebral stripe and other diagnostic characters of this taxon. Thereby, as far as we know there are no records of C. flavolineatus to Peru. Some preserved specimens of C. flavolineatus (MNRJ 3981, 17183, 17155) had amphibians (Scinax gr. fuscovarius, Scinax gr. x-signatus, a non-identified species of Hylidae, and Leptodactylus fuscus) as stomach contents ingested in posterior-anterior direction. Three specimens of C. flavolineatus were observed on April 28, 2006 by one of us (BH) entwined on the l

Taxonomic revision of Chironius flavolineatus (Jan, 1863) with description of a new species (Serpentes: Colubridae)