We update the list of reptiles of Venezuela, reporting a total of 370 species from the country (four of these exotic), arrangedin 122 genera (one exotic), 30 families and three orders. Introduced species and dubious or erroneous records are discussed.Taxonomic, nomenclatural and distributional comments are provided when required. Considering species of probableoccurrence in the country (known to occur in Colombia, Brazil and Guyana at localities very close to the Venezuelan border) and still undescribed taxa, we estimate that the total number of species in Venezuela could exceed 400.Se actualiza la lista de reptiles de Venezuela a un total de 370 especies (cuatro de ellas exóticas), pertenecientes a 122géneros (un exótico), 30 familias y tres órdenes. Se discuten las especies introducidas, los registros dudosos o erróneos yse proporcionan comentarios taxonómicos, nomenclaturales o de distribución en casos necesarios. Después de considerarlas especies de probable presencia en el país (registros conocidos cercanos a la frontera con Colombia, Brasil y Guyana) y los taxones aun no descritos, se estima que el número total de especies en Venezuela podría superar las 400 especies.

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Transitions between the marine and freshwater macrohabitat have occurred repeatedly in the evolution of teleost fishes. For example, ariid catfishes have moved from freshwater to marine environments, and vice versa. Opercles, a skeletal feature that has been shown to change during such transitions, were subjected to 2D geometric morphometric analyses in order to investigate evolutionary shape changes during habitat transition in ariid catfishes and to test the influence of habitat on shape changes. A mtDNA marker, which proved useful in previous studies, was used to verify species identities. It greatly improved the assignment of specimens to a species, which are difficult to assign by morphology alone. The application of a mtDNA marker confirmed the occurrence of Notarius biffi in Central America, South of El Salvador. Molecular identification together with principal component analysis (PCA) and further morphological inspection of neurocrania indicated the existence of a cryptic species within Bagre pinnimaculatus. Principal component (PC) scores of individual specimens clustered in morphospace by genus rather than by habitat. Strong phylogenetic structure was detected using a permutation test of PC scores of species means on a phylogenetic tree. Calculation of Pagel's λ suggested that opercle shape evolved according to a Brownian model of evolution. Yet canonical variate analysis (CVA) conducted on the habitat groups showed significant differences in opercle shapes among freshwater and marine species. Overall, opercle shape in tropical American Ariidae appears to be phylogenetically constrained. This verifies the application of opercle shape as a taxonomic tool for species identification in fossil ariid catfishes. At the same time, adaptation to freshwater habitats shows characteristic opercle shape trajectories in ariid catfishes, which might be used to detect habitat preferences in fossils.

Phylogenetic relationships among the species of Mabuya present around the Caribbean Sea (Antilles, Central America, and northern South America) are proposed for the first time. The molecular phylogenetic analyses (based on cytochrome b and 12S sequences) give new insights into the diversification of the genus in the New World, its multiple instances of montane habitat colonization, and the multiple waves of colonization towards the Caribbean area. In addition to the molecular analyses, we propose hypotheses about the phylogenetic placement of some rare or possibly extinct species, based on a qualitative analysis of morphological characters. The present article also includes descriptions of two new species from northern Venezuela, Mabuya nebulosylvestrissp. nov. (from the highlands of the coastal range and the Andean Cordillera of Mérida) and Mabuya zuliae sp. nov. (from the lowlands of the Maracaibo lake basin). Mabuya luciaeGarman, 1887, a possibly extinct species endemic to St Lucia Island, is resurrected and diagnosed from its supposed sister species, Mabuya mabouya (Lacepède, 1788). © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 156, 598–616.

The snail‐eating snakes that inhabit the Sierra de Perijá, of both Colombia and Venezuela, have received little attention in part because of the difficult accessibility of this area, due to the roughness of the terrain and the geopolitical boarder instability in this region. One of the rarest and least known snail‐eaters, Dipsas pratti (type species of its group, sensu Peters 1960), is known from 13 specimens (including the holotype). Since its original description in 1897, all known specimens of D. pratti have been collected from the Cordillera Central and Oriental of Colombia. In this study, we greatly improve our knowledge of the biology of D. pratti based primarily on nine newly collected specimens. Seven of these specimens are the first recorded from Venezuela, expanding the known range of this species by approximately 300 km to the northeast. These specimens provide additional information on external, reproductive, and hemipenial morphology, habitat, and defensive behaviors of the species. Additionally, we provide the first in‐life photographs of D. pratti. This study sheds light on the biodiversity in a unique and underexplored region as well as bridging a critical knowledge gap in our understanding of an understudied group of Neotropical snakes. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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