Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature. Ophiologie

Abstract

A new species of Bachia of the bresslaui group, Bachia geralista sp. nov., is described from Planalto dos Gerais, an old and partially dissected plateau extending along the Cerrados of Bahia, Minas Gerais and Tocantins states, Brazil. The new species is morphologically similar to B. bresslaui, with which it has been confused; however head scalation resembles other species from sandy spots within the Cerrado (B. psamophila and B. oxyrhina). Like in B. psamophila and B. oxyrhina, the shovel-shaped snout of the new species is highly prominent, a typical trait of psammophilous habits in other gymnophthalmids. The examination of specimens of B. bresslaui from several populations within the Cerrado revealed great variation among localities, leading to the reidentification of a specimen from Utiariti, Mato Grosso, previously referred to in the literature as the second record of B. bresslaui, as the recently described B. didactyla, suggesting that cryptic diversity might remain still undiscovered within this genus in the Cerrado. Despite occurring in a relatively open Cerrado, thermal physiology of Bachia geralista sp. nov. restricts its occurrence to shaded microhabitats within this habitat.

The Vetigastropoda (Mollusca) of Walters Shoal, with descriptions of two new genera and thirty new species

“…I have already commented on the confused taxonomy of stomatelline trochids (Herbert 2015: 61) and it is thus not without some reservation that I describe a new species while so many of those already proposed remain taxa inquirenda. Amongst stomatelline genera, the depressed, haliotiform shape and relatively fine sculpture of the present species clearly ally it with Stomatella, of which the only species currently recognised as occurring in the south-western Indian Ocean is Stomatella auricula Lamarck, 1816(Herbert 2015. That species differs from S. multilirata sp.…”

The Conus cedonulli complex: Historical review, taxonomy and biological observations

“…In a catalogue of the Conidae described and/or illustrated by Hwass (in Bruguière), Lamarck, Delessert, Kiener and Chenu and present in the MHNG, Mermod (1947) established the presence of the holotypes of trinitarius, martinicanus, grenadensis and caracanus and reported other specimens belonging to the C. cedonulli complex, which in literature had been identified with the various infraspecific taxa of Hwass or which Mermod himself identified with these taxa. A critical examination of this additional material reveals that most of these post-HwASS identifications do not coincide with the illustrations of Hwass' infraspecific taxa in the «Tableau...» (Lamarck, 1798) and must be considered erroneous. Mermod's compilation is summarized in Table V, together with the present status of the specimens.…”

Museum DNA reveals a new, potentially extinct species of rinkhals (Serpentes: Elapidae: Hemachatus) from the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe

“…Closely related to true cobras of the genus Naja, the African elapid snake genus Hemachatus (Fleming, 1822) [9] currently contains a single species, Hemachatus haemachatus (Bonnaterre, 1790) [10], known colloquially as the rinkhals [11,12]. These snakes are famous for displaying a defensive hooding posture when threatened, and spitting venom towards aggressors [13].…”