Tropidophis battersbyi LAURENT, 1949
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Tropidophis battersbyi
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| Higher Taxa | Tropidophiidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | Battersby's Dwarf Boa |
| Synonym | Tropidophis battersbyi LAURENT 1949: 6 Tropidophis battersbyi — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 216 Tropidophis battersbyi — CURCIO et al. 2012 Tropidophis battersbyi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 752 |
| Distribution | Ecuador Type locality: "Equateur" |
| Reproduction | viviparous. |
| Types | Holotype: IRSNB 3701, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (Registre des Types No. 2050). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis.—Tropidophis battersbyi is dis- tinguishable from all South American conge- ners by the following combination of charac- ters: (1) up to 200 ventrals (vs. 164–183 in T. paucisquamis and 146–160 in T. taczanows- kyi); (2) 23 dorsals at midbody (vs. dorsals at midbody usually 21 or 23, rarely 25 in T. paucisquamis); (3) vertebral scale row not distinctly enlarged in size relative to remaining dorsals (vs. vertebral row usually enlarged in T. paucisquamis); (4) dorsals smooth (vs. dorsals sometimes feebly keeled in T. paucisquamis and strongly keeled in T. taczanowskyi); (5) interparietals present and well developed (vs. interparietals usually lacking, or small in size when present in T. paucisquamis); (6) parietals fully separated by interparietals (vs. parietals always in contact, even when interparietals are present in T. paucisquamis); (7) 12 maxillary teeth (vs. 15–19 in T. paucisquamis and 16–20 in T. taczanowskyi); (8) body spotted, dorsal spots large, rounded or elliptical, up to four scales in diameter (vs. dorsal spots diameter of approximately two dorsal scales in T. pauci- squamis and T. taczanowskyi); and (9) six spot rows around the body, four on dorsum and two on venter (vs. eight spot rows around the body, six on dorsum and two on venter in T. paucisquamis and T. taczanowskyi) [CURCIO et al. 2012]. Comparisons with other mainland Tropido- phis.—The color pattern of T. battersbyi, with four dorsal rows of large and dark spots (Fig. 2A), is unique among all South Amer- ican congeners. Ventral and subcaudal counts (200 and 41, respectively) are also distinctly high among mainland species, although T. paucisquamis may show compa- rable values for subcaudals. Finally, the original description mentions 12 maxillary teeth, a number that is considerably lower than those of all other mainland Tropidophis (usually > 16) [CURCIO et al. 2012]. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | Named after James Clarence Battersby 1901-1993 [obituary in Herp. Rev. 25: 44 (1994)]. |
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