Atractus muisca PASSOS, MENESES-PELAYO, RAMOS, MARTINS, MACHADO, LOPES, BARRIO-AMORÓS & LYNCH, 2024
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Atractus muisca
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Atractus muisca PASSOS, MENESES-PELAYO, RAMOS, MARTINS, MACHADO, LOPES, BARRIO-AMORÓS & LYNCH 2024: 95 |
| Distribution | Colombia (Boyacá and adjacent Santander), elevation 1,700−2,700 m Type locality: border between departments of Boyacá and Santander (ca. 06°02′N, 72°57′W), Colombia (Figs. 83, 84). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. ICN-R 2849, Adult male, collected by Oscar Pin‐ to in June 06 1980 at Belén–Encino Highway. Paratypes. Ten specimens from department of Santand‐ er, Colombia: male, ICN-R 10708, collected by Pedro M. Ruiz and team in May 07 1981 at El Reloj (ca. 1,750 m asl), municipality of Virolín (06°06′N, 73°12′W); female, ICN‐R 2604, and two males (ICN‐R 2602, 2605), collected by G. Lozano and team between 12−22 May 1976 at Fin‐ ca La Sierra (ca. 2,400−2,700 m asl), locality of El Encino, municipality of Virolin; female (UIS-R 1160) from La Sier‐ ra Farm, Santuario Fauna y Flora Guanentá (06°01′13′′N, 73°07′08′′; 2,000−3,800 m asl), Upper Fonce River, Charalá–Duitama highway; three males (UIS-R 559−61), from Vereda Santa Helena, from La Sierra Farm, Santuario Fauna y Flora Guanentá, Upper Fonce River, Charalá–Dui‐ tama Highway; male (UIS‐R 4399) from Cerro El Santísimo (07°04′56.777′′N, 73°04′6.694′′W), municipality of Flor‐ idablanca; and male (UIS-R 4695) from Finca Palo Santo (06°43′34.810′′N, 72°44′47.609′′W), Vereda Pescaderito, municipality of Málaga (Figs. 85−89). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Atractus muisca can be distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) dorsal scale rows smooth, 17/17/17; (2) postoculars two; (3) loreal long; (4) temporal formula 1 + 2; (5) supralabials seven, 3 and 4 contacting eye; (6) infralabials seven, 1−3 contacting chinshields; (7) maxillary teeth 7−11; (8) usually four gular scale rows; (9) preventrals four; (10) ventrals 179−181 in females, 150−175 in males; (11) subcaudals 19−22 in females, 23−32 in males; (12) in preservative, dorsum beige to variegated brown with black blotches and spots on the paravertebral region, sometimes with connected to black irregular vertebral stripe; (13) in preservative, ventral ground color cream with squared black blotches irregularly distributed; (14) moderate body size, females reaching 470 mm SVL, males 462 mm SVL; (15) tail short in females (7.9−9.2% SVL), moderate (10.3−15.2% SVL) in males; (16) hemipenis moderately bilobed, semicapitate, semicalyculate; (17) laterosphenoid poorly developed. (Passos et al. 2024) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 2153 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | Named after the well-developed Precolumbian civilization that lived along Eastern Cordillera highlands of Colombia, when the Spanish colonizers arrived in 1537. Their contribution to Latin American myths is vast, being most likely the nation that gave rise to the European legend of “El Dorado” (Hemming, 1978). They were the main emerald producers in Colombia, and also monopolized the mining of copper, gold, and coal. For Muiscas the forests were public, as were the lagoons, the moors, and the riverbanks, making food production according to the needs of each inhabi‐ tant. Its social redistribution mechanism operated in par‐ allel with the exchange system. The caciques retained the productive surpluses through tribute, redistributing a part among the population through a common consumption fund. This ancient policy is an inspiration in modern times of massive inequality in the distribution of wealth around the world. We named this species in honor to Muiscas for their historical example of a feasible egalitarian society, and because Atractus muisca also occurs along its original territory. |
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