A taxonomic bibliography of the South American snakes of the Crotalus durissus complex (Serpentes, Viperidae)

Abstract

A survey is made of the taxonomic literature on South American rattlesnakes (genus Crotalus, family Viperidae). Two main areas are emphasized: the attribution of the names proposed in the eighteenth century by Linnaeus and Laurenti, and the current scheme of division in subspecies.The attribution of names is examined based on the original descriptions and on relevant previous and contemporary literature. The presently adopted scheme, proposed by Klauber ( , 1972) is found not entirely satisfactory, but reasonable enough -besides being hallowed by use.The scheme of geographical differentiation, intrinsically important and with broad practical implications (differentiation of the venom) is found to be the culmination of a long series of deficient analyses, and in urgent need of proper investigation.

New records of the rare Troschel’s Pampas Snake, Phimophis guianensis (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in Brazil

“…Since then, no new records arose from highly sampled areas (e.g. Thomas 1976, Cunha and Nascimento 1980, 1993, Hoogmoed 1982, Cunha et al 1985, Vanzolini 1986, Zaher 1996, Vanzolini and Calleffo 2002, and this species has been only known based on specimens from outside Brazil (Table I), which corroborates the hypothesis that this species might be rare in Brazil (França et al 2006). The individuals from Cantá here described represent new records to Brazil, filling a distribution gap of approximately 140 km southward from the record of Pirara, Sabana, Guyana, and 882 km northward from the record of Monte Alegre, Pará, Brazil, and the first record of the species to Roraima state.…”

“…The Troschel's Pampas Snake, Phimophis guianensis (Troschel 1848), has been recorded from Panamá, in Central America, to Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guyana, and Brazil (Troschel 1848, Dunn 1944, Hoogmoed 1982, Lancini and Kornacker 1989, Frota et al 2005, França et al 2006, Cole et al 2013, Blanco-Torres et al 2013. Phimophis guianensis was first recorded in Brazil based on three specimens from Amazonian Savanna areas at Amapá and Pará states, in northern Brazil, that ranged from a timespan of 1997to 2002(Frota et al 2005and França et al 2006. Herein, we provide new records of this species at Brazilian territory.…”

Phylogeographic Structure and Karyotypic Diversity of the Brazilian Shrew Mouse (<b><i>Blarinomys breviceps</i></b>, Sigmodontinae) in the Atlantic Forest

“…Molecular analyses showed 2 geographically distinct lineages in the Atlantic Rainforest, allowing the identification of 2 broad regions in this domain, whose limit occurs approximately at a latitude of 20°S. Previous studies involving different groups of vertebrates [Costa and Leite, 2012] also recognized 2 phylogeographic regions in the Atlantic Rainforest, separating the fauna in 2 sister-group components (northeastern and southeastern), as demonstrated for species of amphibians [Carnaval et al, 2009], lizards [Vanzolini, 1988;Pellegrino et al, 2005], birds [Bates et al, 1998;Cabanne et al, 2007], and non-volant small mammals [Costa et al, 2000;Costa, 2003;Leite, 2003]. This regional pattern is attributed to the presence of the Rio Doce [Pellegrino et al, 2005].…”

Tracing an invasion: landbridges, refugia, and the phylogeography of the Neotropical rattlesnake (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus durissus)

“…Within South America, extensive superficial variation in pattern has led to the description of a plethora of often ill‐defined subspecies or even species (summarized in Vanzolini & Calleffo 2002 and Campbell & Lamar 2004). Our data show all South American populations of the C. durissus complex to be phylogenetically closely related.…”