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Amphibians, Reptiles, & Natural History

A new dwarf snake from the Philippines

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In a newly published paper in Copeia Weinell et al. (2020) described Levitonius mirus, new genus in the family Cyclocoridae (a family of snakes endemic to the Philippine Archipelago). It differs from all other members of the family in body size, scalation, and other characters. Skeletal and other morphological data suggest that Levitonius is fossorial and likely has a specialized diet on earthworms. Levitonius mirus, has a maximum total length of 172 mm and is at present the smallest known species in Elapoidea. The discovery of a strikingly distinct and phylogenetically divergent snake lineage on these landmasses joins numerous related studies calling for a wholesale reconsideration of the Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex model (the PAIC paradigm of diversification) biogeographic framework.

The terrestrial snake fauna of the Philippines includes 112 species from 12 families (Acrochordidae, Colubridae, Cyclocoridae, Elapidae, Gerrhopilidae, Homalopsidae, Lamprophiidae, Pareidae, Pythonidae, Typhlopidae, Viperidae, and Xenopeltidae) and 41 genera, including five genera that are endemic to the archipelago.

Reference:

Weinell JL, Paluh DJ, Siler CD, Brown RM. 2020. A New, Miniaturized Genus and Species of Snake (Cyclocoridae) from the Philippines. Copeia 2020 108(4):907-923.

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