A new species of the genus Liotyphlops Peters, 1881 (Serpentes, Anomalepididae) from Colombia and the synonymization of Liotyphlops beui (Amaral, 1924) with Liotyphlops ternetzii (Boulenger, 1896)

Abstract

A new species of Liotyphlops Peters, 1881, Liotyphlops palauophissp. nov., is described from the neighborhoods of Bogota, Colombia from a previous syntype of L. anops, and a lectotype is designated for the latter species. The new species is readily distinguished from congeners by having the frontal scale divided (vs single), and a central foramen in the parabasisphenoid (vs foramen absent). High-resolution x-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) was used to study and present data on the skull of the holotype of the new species, the lectotype of L. anops, and the holotype of L. ternetzii. Additionally, extensive study of skull characters and external morphology failed to find diagnostic characters to differentiate L. beui and L. ternetzii, and the former is here considered a junior synonym of L. ternetzii, which is also redescribed.

Taxonomic notes on the head squamation of the genus Liotyphlops Peters, 1881 (Serpentes, Anomalepididae)

“…According to modern taxonomy, Liotyphlops consists of 12 species popularly known as ''blindsnakes'' (Santos and Reis 2018;Boundy 2021;Linares-Vargas et al 2021;Entiauspe Neto 2023;Marra Santos 2023): Liotyphlops albirostris (Peters, 1858); Liotyphlops anops (Cope, 1899); Liotyphlops argaleus Dixon & Kofron, 1984;Liotyphlops bondensis (Griffin, 1916); Liotyphlops caissara Centeno, Sawaya & Germano, 2010;Liotyphlops haadi Silva-Haad, Franco & Maldonado, 2008; Liotyphlops palauophis Marra Santos, 2023;Liotyphlops schubarti Vanzolini, 1948; Liotyphlops taylori Santos & Reis, 2018;Liotyphlops ternetzii (Boulenger, 1896); Liotyphlops trefauti Freire, Caramaschi & Argôlo, 2007;and Liotyphlops wilderi (Garman, 1883). In recent years, the description of new species of Anomalepididae have been restricted to the genus Liotyphlops (Freire et al 2007;Haad et al 2008;Centeno et al 2010;Santos and Reis 2018;Marra Santos 2023).…”

“…An important observation is that some authors of new species of Liotyphlops decided to follow Dixon and Kofron (1984) (Centeno et al 2010;Santos and Reis 2018;Marra Santos 2023) in the terminology used for the head scalation and the result is that the characters analyzed by these authors, based on head scalation, can be compared in all known Liotyphlops species.…”