A new species of hood-displaying Thamnodynastes (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Atlantic forest in southeast Brazil

Abstract

A new species of Thamnodynastes (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Atlantic forest in southeast Brazil is described herein. The new species is diagnosed by the following set of characters: slender body; very long tail (about 50% of body length); 19 scale rows in the mid-body; high subcaudal scale count (101–109); and a series of 5–6 black blotches in the fore-body, shown during defensive displays. The new species is known from moderate elevations of the Serra do Mar range and its features indicate that it is one of the most arboreal species within the genus.

Composition and Natural History of Snakes from Etá Farm region, Sete Barras, south-eastern Brazil

“…A poorly documented visual defensive behaviour was reported for E. miliaris at Fazenda Etá (Menezes et al 2015;this study). Two individuals (one juvenile and one adult) were observed simultaneously raising and compressing the anterior part of their body, a behaviour commonly performed by Old World elapids and previously reported for other Neotropical snakes, for example, species of the genera Thamnodynastes, Hydrodynastes, and Xenodon (Franco et al 2003, Young and Kardong 2010, Kahn 2011. It is likely that this behaviour has the same goal of intimidating the predator as other frontal displays previously described, such as raising the head and inflating the glottis, which alter the predator's perception of the size of the individual that performs them (Greene 1988, 1997, Young and Kardong 2010.…”

A revision of the South American snake genus Thamnodynastes Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Tachymenini): I. Two new species of Thamnodynastes from Central Brazil and adjacent areas, with a redefinition of and neotype designation for Thamnodynastes pallidus (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…We suggest it was foraging for tree frogs which are known to seek food and shelter in termite nests. Behavior -This species spreads its neck when alarmed ( Figure 13); this was also reported for Thamnodynastes longicaudus Franco et al (2003) in its original description.…”

“…The pallidus group consists of four species, the wide-ranging T. pallidus, T. longicaudus Franco et al (2003) of northeastern Brazil, and two new species (one described in this paper, T. sertanejo, and another in a forthcoming paper) with restricted distributions in widely scattered regions. Nowhere are any of them abundant and T. pallidus is sympatric only with the species that will be described in another paper (from the Upper Amazon and its tributaries).…”

Levantamento da fauna e estudo cromossômico de algumas espécies de Reptilia, Squamata, do município de Cananéia, SP

“…O aumento do número de estudos na região da Floresta Atlântica na última década, em especial na região norte-nordeste, ampliou muito o conhecimento sobre a fauna de Squamata da Floresta Atlântica. Ocorreram contribuições importantes com a descoberta de novos táxons e revelação de espécies crípticas segundo os trabalhos: de revisões taxonômicas e sistemáticas (DI-BERNARDO, 1996;ZAHER, 1996;FRANCO et al, 1997;RODRIGUES, 1997;RODRIGUES et al, 2002a;MARQUES et al, 2002;FRANCO et al, 2003;HOLLIS, 2006), de levantamentos intensivos realizados em localidades restritas (FREIRE, 1996;RODRIGUES & BORGES, 1997;FREIRE, 1999;ROCHA et al, 2000;DIXO, 2001;DIAS et al, 2002;RODRIGUES et al, 2002b;RODRIGUES et al, 2007) e que utilizaram metodologias moleculares (PELLEGRINO et al, 2001;BERTOLLOTO, 2006;RODRIGUES et al, 2006;KLACZO, 2007;RODRIGUES et al, 2007).…”

“…FRANCO et al (1997) descreveram duas espécies novas de serpentes do gênero Clelia, Clelia montana e Clelia quimi para a região sudeste. FRANCO et al (2003) descreveram uma espécie nova no gênero Thamnodynastes, T. longicaudus, da região da Serra do Mar, no Estado de São Paulo. MARQUES et al (2002) descreveram a segunda espécie de serpente insular no Estado de São Paulo e do Brasil, o viperídeo Bothrops alcatraz, na Ilha de Alcatrazes, litoral norte do Estado.…”