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Published: 2021-04-27
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Night stalkers from above: A monograph of Toxicodryas tree snakes (Squamata: Colubridae) with descriptions of two new cryptic species from Central Africa

University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Biological Sciences, 500 W. University Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79912, USA
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Biological Sciences, 500 W. University Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79912, USA
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
4 Potter Park, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Laboratoire d’Hérpétologie, Département de Biologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles, Lwiro, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Laboratoire d’Hérpétologie, Département de Biologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles, Lwiro, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Institut Supérieur d’écologie pour la Conservation de la Nature, Katana Campus, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Department of Ecology and Biodiversity of Earth Resources, Centre de Surveillance de la Biodiversité of the University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Department of Ecology and Aquatic Biodiversity, Biodiversity Monitoring Centre, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Museum für Naturkunde—Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
Museum für Naturkunde—Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Biological Sciences, 500 W. University Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79912, USA
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
Reptilia Congo Basin arboreal cryptic species rivers taxonomy

Abstract

The genus Toxicodryas, historically included with the renowned Australasian cat-eyed snakes of the colubrid genus Boiga, currently includes two widespread species (T. blandingii and T. pulverulenta) in western, central, and eastern Africa. We leverage findings from a recent phylogenomic and historical demographic analysis of this genus (based on 2848–4471 Rad-seq loci from across the genome), with robust sampling from throughout the ranges of both species, to define two additional taxonomic units, with species boundaries corresponding to river barriers. Additional morphometric data from scores of examined museum specimens and literature records bolster the recognition of these two new cryptic species. We hypothesize that T. blandingii occurs west of the confluence of the Congo and Ubangi rivers, whereas a cryptic new species that is found east of this biogeographic barrier has significantly higher numbers of ventral scale counts in both sexes, additional significant differences in several scale counts, and lower venom toxicity. Toxicodryas pulverulenta occurs west of the Niger Delta in West Africa, whereas a cryptic new species that is found east of this biogeographic barrier has significantly higher numbers of subcaudal scale counts in both sexes. A review of published information regarding morphological variation, ecology, natural history, habitat, and venom is summarized for these four Toxicodryas species.

 

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