Amerotyphlops arenensis GRABOSKI, PEREIRA-FILHO, SILVA, COSTA PRUDENTE & ZAHER, 2015

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Higher Taxa	Typhlopidae (Typhlopinae), Typhlopoidea, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Amerotyphlops arenensis GRABOSKI, PEREIRA-FILHO, SILVA, COSTA-PRUDENTE & ZAHER 2015 Amerotyphlops arenensis — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019
Distribution	Brazil (Paraíba, Pernambuco) Type locality: Reserva Ecológica Mata do Pau Ferro (06° 58'12'' S, 35° 42'15'' W; ca. 600 m), municipality of Areia, state of Paraíba, Brazil
Reproduction	oviparous (manual imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: MZUSP 20042, An adult male, collected by Gentil P. Filho on 19 November 2008. Paratypes. Eighteen specimens all collected in the type locality by Gentil P. Filho. MZUSP 20037–38 collected in 16 October 2008, MZUSP 20039 collected in 17 October 2008, MZUSP 20040–41 collected in 19 November 2008, MZUSP 20136 collected in 19 November 2008, MZUSP 20043–45 collected in 17 December 2008,MZUSP20046 collected in 18 December 2008, MZUSP 20047 and MZUSP 21273 collected in 21 January 2009, MZUSP 20048 collected in 28 February 2009, MZUSP 20049–50 and MZUSP 21274 collected in 27 March 2009, MZUSP 20051 collected in 23 April 2009, and MZUSP 20052 collected in 21 May 2009.
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Amerotyphlops arenensis is distinguished from all other South American species by the following combination of characters: nasal suture incomplete; rostral scale oval; supralabial scales four; infralabial scales three; rows scales around the body 18/18/18; middorsal scales 204 to 225; rows of dorsal scales dark brown 12–13th; rows of ventral scales yellowish cream and immaculate 4–5; caudal spine dark brown; subcaudal scales 8–10 in female and 11–13 for males; and maximum TTL 233 mm. The new species differs from Amerotyphlops lehneri by having an incomplete nasal suture (vs. complete nasal suture); from A. brongersmianus, A. reticulatus, and A. minuisquamus by having 18/18/18 rows scales around the body (vs. 18/16/14, 18/18/14, 20/18/14 or 20/18/15 in A. minuisquamus; 20/20/18 or 20/20/20 in A. brongersmianus and A. reticulatus); from A. yonenagae by having less than 250 middorsal scales (vs. more than 250 middorsal); from A. amoipira by having highly pigmented cephalic scales with a dark brown dorsum (vs. few pigmented cephalic scales, creamish brown dorsum with a fine darker brown paravertebral line concentrated in the anterior part of the body) and from A. paucisquamus by having a largest number of middorsal, between 204–225 (vs. fewer number of middorsal, between 162–209).
Comment
Etymology	The specific epithet is derived from the Latin name “arena”, a reference to the name of the type locality of the new species, the municipality of Areia.
References	ANDRADE LIMA, J.H., DIAS, E.G., COSTA, R.D.L., SILVA, F.J., LIMA, E.S.M., SANTOS, E.M., KOKUBUM, M.N.C. 2021. Lizards and snakes of Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Matas do Siriji, an Atlantic Forest hotspot of the Pernambuco Endemism Center, Northeastern Brazil. Biota Neotropica 21 (2): e20201106 - get paper here Dubeux, M. J. M., Araújo Neto, J. V. D., Triburcio, I. C. S., Lisboa, B. S., Torquato, S., Freitas, M. A. D., ... & Mott, T. 2022. A “hotspot” within a hotspot: the reptiles of the Estação Ecológica and Área de Proteção Ambiental de Murici, Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. Biota Neotropica, 22: 1-14 - get paper here França RC, Solé M and França FGR 2024. Conservation status of Brazilian snakes inhabiting the Atlantic Forest of Northeastern Brazil. Front. Ecol. Evol. 12:1301717 - get paper here Freitas, Marco A. de; Marcos J.M. Dubeux, Márcio F. Chaves, Bruno F. Fiorillo, Gentil A.P. Filho, Washington L.S. Vieira, and Geraldo J.B. de Moura 2023. Herpetofauna in three highland Atlantic Forest remnants in northeastern Brazil. Herpetology Notes 16: 377-390 Graboski R, Arredondo JC, Grazziotin FG, et al. 2018. Molecular phylogeny and hemipenial diversity of South American species of Amerotyphlops (Typhlopidae, Scolecophidia). Zoologica Scripta 48: 139– 156 - get paper here GRABOSKI, ROBERTA; GENTIL ALVES PEREIRA FILHO, ARIANE AUXILIADORA ARAÚJO DA SILVA, ANA LÚCIA DA COSTA PRUDENTE, HUSSAM ZAHER 2015. A new species of Amerotyphlops from Northeastern Brazil, with comments on distribution of related species. Zootaxa 3920 (3): 443–452 - get paper here Nogueira, Cristiano C.; Antonio J.S. Argôlo, Vanesa Arzamendia, Josué A. Azevedo, Fausto E. Barbo, Renato S. Bérnils, Bruna E. Bolochio, Marcio Borges-Martins, Marcela Brasil-Godinho, Henrique Braz, Marcus A. Buononato, Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, 2019. Atlas of Brazilian snakes: verified point-locality maps to mitigate the Wallacean shortfall in a megadiverse snake fauna. South American J. Herp. 14 (Special Issue 1):1-274 - get paper here OLIVEIRA, P.M.A., MELLO, A.V.A., DUBEUX, M.J.M., OLIVEIRA, S.B.A., LOURENÇO, G.F., NUNES, P.M.S. 2021. Herpetofauna of Matas de Água Azul, an Atlantic Forest remnant in Serra do Mascarenhas, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Biota Neotropica 21 (2): e20201063 - get paper here Roberto, I. J., R. W. Ávila & A. R. Melgarejo 2015. Répteis (Testudines, Squamata, Crocodylia) da reserva biológica de Pedra Talhada. In: Atuder, A., l. Nusbaumer & R. Spichiger (eds.). biodiversidade da reserva biológica de Pedra talhada (alagoas, Pernambuco - brasil). Boissiera 68: 357-375 - get paper here Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
External links	National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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