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Rajabizadeh M, Pyron RA, Nazarov R, Poyarkov NA, Adriaens D, Herrel A. Additions to the phylogeny of colubrine snakes in Southwestern Asia, with description of a new genus and species (Serpentes: Colubridae: Colubrinae). PeerJ 2020; 8:e9016. [PMID: 32341904 PMCID: PMC7182026 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Reptiles are still being described worldwide at a pace of hundreds of species a year. While many discoveries are from remote tropical areas, biodiverse arid regions still harbor many novel taxa. Here, we present an updated phylogeny of colubrid snakes from the Western Palearctic by analyzing a supermatrix of all available global snake species with molecular data and report on the discovery of a new genus and species of colubrine snake from southeastern Iran. The new taxon, named Persiophis fahimii Gen. et sp. nov., is nested within a clade containing Middle Eastern and South Asian ground racers (Lytorhynchus, Rhynchocalamus, Wallaceophis, and Wallophis). This species has a derived morphology including an edentulous pterygoid and occurrence of short and blunt teeth on the palatine, maxillae and dentary bones, an elongated snout and a relatively trihedral first supralabial scale that is slightly bigger than the second, and elongated toward the tip of rostral. We also report on the osteology and phylogenetic placement of several poorly studied colubrines: Hierophis andreanus (reassigned to Dolichophis) and Muhtarophis barani.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahdi Rajabizadeh
- Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran.,Département 'Adaptations du vivant', Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
| | - R Alexander Pyron
- Department of Biological Sciences, the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - Roman Nazarov
- Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nikolay A Poyarkov
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Dominique Adriaens
- Department of Biology, Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Anthony Herrel
- Département 'Adaptations du vivant', Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.,Department of Biology, Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Biology, Functional Morphology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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