A New Species of Erythrolamprus(Serpentes: Dipsadidae) From the Andes of Ecuador
We describe a new species of Erythrolamprus from the eastern slopes of the Tropical Andes in Ecuador. The most similar species in morphology and color patterns are E. fraseri and E. lamonae. However, this new species differs in dorsal and ventral color patterning, as well as scale count and hemipenial morphology. Previous molecular phylogenies strongly support monophyly of the new species described herein and its sister taxon relationship with E. fraseri from the western slopes of the Andes of Ecuador and northern Peru. An identification key for species of Ecuadorian Erythrolamprus formerly assigned as subspecies of E. epinephelus is provided.ABSTRACT
Holotype of E. darwinnunezi sp. nov. (female, QCAZ 9972) in preservative. Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views of the body (374 mm SVL), and dorsal (C), lateral (D), and ventral (E) views of the head. Scale bar (C, D, E) = 10 mm.
Dorsal (left) and ventral (right) views of preserved specimens of E. fraseri (A, QCAZ 14056, 390 mm SVL, Loja Province) and E. lamonae (B, QCAZ 9032, 405 mm SVL, Napo Province).
Patterns of longitudinal dark stripes on posterior half of body of E. darwinnunezi sp. nov. (top, QCAZ 9973, paratype), E. fraseri (middle, QCAZ 2873) and E. lamonae (bottom, QCAZ 11066).
Hemipenes (left organ) of E. lamonae (A, QCAZ 9032), E. fraseri (B, QCAZ 14056), and E. darwinnunezi sp. nov. (C, QCAZ 9962, paratype) in lateral, asulcate, and sulcate views from left to right. Scale bars = 5 mm.
General view of specimens of E. darwinnunezi sp. nov. in life. QCAZ 10001, male, 215 mm SVL (A) and QCAZ 18245, male, 281 mm SVL (B). Photographs by author Diego A. Paucar.
Known distribution of E. darwinnunezi sp. nov., E. fraseri, and E. lamonae in Ecuador. Black arrow indicates type locality.
Phylogeny of Erythrolamprus (modified from Torres-Carvajal & Hinojosa, 2020), with a close-up of a subclade containing E. darwinnunezi sp. nov. and its closest relatives. We obtained the maximum likelihood tree from an analysis of 6 genes and 101 terminals. Numbers above branches are bootstrap support values ≥ 50; numbers below branches are posterior probabilities ≥ 0.5. For more details on phylogenetic analyses, see Torres-Carvajal and Hinojosa (2020).
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