Mimophis occultus RUANE, MYERS, LO, YUEN, WELT, JUMAN, FUTTERMAN, NUSSBAUM, SCHNEIDER, BURBRINK & RAXWORTHY, 2017
Find more photos by Google images search:
Higher Taxa | Psammophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | |
Synonym | Mimophis occultus RUANE, MYERS, LO, YUEN, WELT, JUMAN, FUTTERMAN, NUSSBAUM, SCHNEIDER, BURBRINK & RAXWORTHY 2017 |
Distribution | NW Madagascar (Mahajanga) Type locality: Madagascar, Mahajanga Province, Tsiambara Forest (-15.920716 S, 45.9886 E), 41 m elevation |
Reproduction | |
Types | Holotype: UMMZ 237408 (RAN 68828 field number), adult male, on 20 April 2002, collected by J. Spannring, J. Rafanomazantsoa, and M. Rakotoarivelo PARATYPES: UMMZ 209622 (RAN 38599 field number), juvenile male, Madagascar, Antsiranana Province, Montagne des Francais (-12.3000 S, 49.3167 E), 150 m elevation, on 31 December 1991, collected by C. J. Rax- worthy, A. Raselimanana, and J.B. Ramanamanjato; UMMZ 209625 (RAN 38969 field number), juvenile female, Madagascar, Antsiranana Province, Ankarana Reserve, (-12.9250 S, 49.1000 E), 119 m elevation, on 3 February 1992, collected by C.J. Raxworthy and A. Raselimanana; AMNH 176427 (RAX 12588 field number), adult male, from Madagascar, Antsiranana Province, Ankarana Reserve (-12.9311 S, 49.0558 E) on 7 February 2014, collected by B. Randriamahtantsoa, C.J. Raxworthy, and S. Ruane. |
Diagnosis | DIAGNOSIS: A species of Mimophis that can be diagnosed from M. mahfalensis by a combination of the following characteristics (see also Table 1): a narrow dark post-ocular eye stripe ≤2 temporal scales in width (vs. in M. mahfalensis post-ocular eye stripe >2 temporal scales in width, or indistinct and fused with the dark dorsal head colouration); 79-104 subcaudal scales (vs. in M. mahfalensis 44-88 subcaudal scales); and a generally larger tail length/SVL ratio of 0.33-0.43 (vs. in M. mahfalensis 0.20-0.36). |
Comment | |
Etymology | The species epithet occultus is Latin for hidden or concealed, referring to the cryptic status of this taxon and having been hidden in plain sight. |
References |
|
External links |