Chironius xaraes SUDRÉ, CERÍACO, TORRES-CARVAJAL, STRÜSSMANN, CURCIO, COLLI & PASSOS, 2026
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Chironius xaraes
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Chironius xaraes SUDRÉ, CERÍACO, TORRES-CARVAJAL, STRÜSSMANN, CURCIO, COLLI & PASSOS 2026 Chironius laurenti Dixon et al. 1993: 141 (part) Chironius laurenti — KLACZKO et al. 2014 Chironius laurenti — HAMDAN et al. 2017 Chironius laurenti — VALADÃO et al. 2018 Chironius laurenti — TORRES-CARVAJAL et al. 2019a) Chironius laurenti — SILVA-ALVES et al. 2022 Chironius laurenti — JADIN et al. 2024 Chironius laurenti — QUINTEROS-MUÑOZ et al. 2024 (part) Chironius laurenti — SUDRÉ et al. 2024 |
| Distribution | Brazil (Mato Grosso, Upper Paraguay River Basin, Grosso do Sul and transition areas with the Cerrado in the state of Mato Grosso) Type locality: road to the municipality of Nobres (BR-364; ca. 14°46′32.8"S 56°22′20.1"W;~250 m asl), municipality of Rosário Oeste, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: MNRJ 24926, Adult male (Fig. 6), collected on November 22, 2013 by Rodrigo Oliveira Lula Salles. Paratypes (14): adult male, UFMT-R 934, collected on March 1st, 2002 by C. Strüssmann at Sepotuba River, municipality of Cáceres, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult female, MNRJ 28206 (formerly UFMT-R 1478), collected on April 24, 2003 by R.A. Kawashita-Ribeiro and V.T. Carvalho at RPPN Acurizal, Serra do Amolar, municipality of Corumbá, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; adult male, UFMT-R 1559, collected on January 12, 2001 by L. Novack at municipality of Nossa Senhora do Livramento, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, MNRJ 28207 (formerly UFMT-R 4249), collected on October 6, 2006 by M.F.S. Figueiredo at Ribeirão do Lipa, municipality of Cuiabá, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, UFMT-R 7332, collected on November 18, 2008 by N. Pinho at the main campus of the Federal University of Mato Grosso, municipality of Cuiabá, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; juvenile male, UFMT-R 11438, collected on April 10, 2009 by M. Meireles at Experimental Farm of the Federal University of Mato Grosso, municipality of Santo Antônio do Leverger, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, UFMT-R 11882, collected on May 28, 2015 by P.L. Oliveira at Parque Cuiabá neighborhood, municipality of Cuiabá, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult female, UFMT-R 12356, collected on March 1st, 2019 by R.L. Leite at Chácara 45, Parque Humaita III neighborhood, road to municipality of Santo Antônio do Leverger, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, UFMT-R 13117, collected on April, 17, 2024 on the road to Santo Antônio do Leverger, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; juvenile female, UFR 367, collected on October 14, 2023 by R.A. Kawashita-Ribeiro at Cachoeira do Bispo, district of Nossa Senhora de Fátima, municipality of Juscimeira, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, MZUSP 7313, collected on November 28, 1978 by P. Crawshaw and G. Schaller at municipality of Poconé, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, ZUFMS 3656, collected on February 13, 2003 by Environmental Police at Paraguay River, municipality of Corumbá, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; adult female, ZUEC 1163, collected on June 18, 1991 by C. Strüssmann at Porto Cercado, municipality of Poconé, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil; adult male, ZUEC 1200, collected on March 20, 1991 by C. Strüssmann at municipality of Cuiabá, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Chironius xaraes can be distinguished from all congeners by the unique combination of the following morphological characters: (1) dorsal scale rows 12/12/8 or 12/12/10; (2) cloacal plate divided; (3) 6 or 10 keeled dorsal scale rows with paravertebral rows, the sixth and seventh with more prominent keels; (4) ventrals 157–168 in females, 159–170 in males; (5) subcaudals 130–141 in females, 133–147 in males; (6) apical pits present on the neck, paravertebral rows, cloacal region, and tail; (7) three supralabials contacting orbit; (8) temporal formula 1+2; (9) maxillary teeth 32–34; (10) after preservation, uniform dark grayish dorsum anteriorly, transitioning to a brownish orange or pale yellow posteriorly, and paravertebral rows stained black laterally; (11) absence of a black postocular stripe; (12) after preservation, dark grayish or pale brown labials; gular region and the first two thirds of the belly pale brown, the remainder pale yellowish; (13) subcaudals pale yellowish; (14) apex of hemipenis with papillate calyces that are replaced by spinulate calyces towards hemipenial body; hemipenial body covered in spines that gradually increase in size towards the base; (15) in lateral view, no posterior process on the vomeronasal cupola of vomer; (16) in lateral view, prefrontal apex on the ventral half of the lateral lamina of prefrontal; (17) in lateral view, projection on the anterior margin of the lacrimal foramen of prefrontal. (Sudre et al. 2026) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about less than half a page) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in Sudré et al. 2026: Fig 9. |
| Etymology | Named after the Xaraés (Xarayés or Xaray) ethnic group, who lived on the banks of the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB) until their territories were conquered by the early Spanish settlers, originating the toponym of “Laguna de los Xarayes” or “Xaraés Lake” to the Pantanal region in the seventeenth century, based on a misinterpretation of the wetlands during the flood season as a vast lake (Costa, 1999). The name xaraes roughly translates as “masters of the river” (Oliveira, 2003), and they were known for possessing large amounts of silver and gold (Costa, 1999). Thus, we allude to the habit and distribution pattern of Chironius xaraes, frequently sighted along riverbanks of the UPRB, and to the most striking diagnostic character, its body coloration with a uniform grayish (silver) dorsum anteriorly, turning to yellowish (gold) posteriorly. |
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