Bothrops sonene CARRASCO, GRAZZIOTIN, CRUZ-FARFÁN, KOCH, OCHOA, SCROCCHI, LEYNAUD & CHAPARRO, 2019
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Bothrops sonene
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| Higher Taxa | Viperidae, Crotalinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Bothrops sonene CARRASCO, GRAZZIOTIN, CRUZ-FARFÁN, KOCH, OCHOA, SCROCCHI, LEYNAUD & CHAPARRO 2019 Bothrops gr. neuwiedi — CADLE et al. 2002: 10 |
| Distribution | Peru (Madre de Dios) Type locality: Pampa Juliaca (12°57’46.79” S, 68°55’22.61” W; 206 m above sea level, asl hereafter), Pampas del Heath (Bahuaja-Sonene National Park), district of Tambopata, province of Tambopata, department of Madre de Dios, Peru |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: MHNC 12319 (given as MUBI in description), adult female, collected on April 23, 2013 by J.A. Ochoa (Figs. 5A, 5E, 6B). Paratypes. Three specimens, all from Pampa Juliaca, Pampas del Heath (Bahuaja-Sonene National Park), district of Tambopata, province of Tambopata, department of Madre de Dios, Peru. An adult male, MUBI 14679, collected on August 14, 2015 by J.A. Ochoa, G. Sebastián & K. Huamani (12°57’47.47” S, 68°54’57.01” W; 210 m asl) (Figs. 5B, 5F, 6C). An immature male, MUSA 4350, collected on November 13, 2015 by R. Santa Cruz (12°57’2.47” S, 68°54’51.05” W; 209 m asl) (Figs. 4, 5C, 6A, D). An immature male, MUSM 33453, collected on between June 02–25, 1996 by J. Cadle (12°59’20.10” S, 68°55’48.45” W; 208 m asl) (Fig. 5D). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Bothrops sonene can be distinguished from its congeners by the exclusive combination of the following morphological characters: dorsal color pattern of body consisting of small C-shaped blotches, apparently unique for the genus; postocular stripe originating posteriorly to the eye, two or two and a half scales width, covering three or four posterior supralabials; dorsum of the head with paired markings arranged symmetrically; venter cream heavily speckled with brown; lacunolabial scale absent, prelacunal discrete contacting second supralabial; prefoveals three to five; subfoveal single and usually present; postfoveals absent to two; canthals two; intersupraoculars seven; suboculars one or two; postoculars two or three; supralabials seven or eight; infralabials nine to eleven; interrictals 26–27; middorsal scales 23–25; ventrals 172 in the female, 169–173 in males; subcaudals divided, 45 in the female, 50 in males. Comparisons. Bothrops sonene is easily distinguished from its congeners by its unique dorsal color pattern of relatively small and C-shaped blotches. It is distinguished from B. atrox, B. barnetti, B. jararaca, B. jararacussu, B. pictus and B. taeniatus by the absence of a lacunolabial scale (= prelacunal fused with second supralabial), a condition shared with the species of the B. alternatus and B. neuwiedi groups. Similar C-shaped (or in the shape of a headphone) dorsal blotches are present in B. alternatus, B. cotiara, B. fonsecai, B. itapetiningae and B. jonathani (B. alternatus group excluding B. ammodytoides, whose dorsal blotches are quadrangular); however, the blotches of B. sonene are smaller and rounder than those species, the lower set of blotches are well separated from each other (except in B. itapetiningae), and blotches are bordered with black (vs. bordered with white). The new species can also be distinguished from some species of the B. alternatus group by the postocular stripe starting posteriorly to the eye (vs. below the eye in B. alternatus, B. jonathani and B. ammodytoides), number of prefoveals (3–5 vs. 3– 15), subfoveals (0–1 vs. 1–6), supralabials (8 vs. 8–12) and infralabials (9–11 vs. 10–15), length of hemipenes (relatively short vs. long), and fusiform and divergent hemipenial lobes (vs. parallel and subcylindrical lobes). Bothrops sonene is more similar to the B. neuwiedi group of species than to the rest of the species of the genus. They all have a symmetrical pattern of blotches in the dorsum of the head, a brown and relatively wide postocular stripe that extends posterior to the rictal region, a discrete prelacunal scale contacting the second supralabial, and similar number of prefoveals, subfoveals, supralabials and infralabials. They also bear resemblance in hemipenial morphology; the overall morphology of the hemipenis of the new species is identical to that of the species of the B. neuwiedi group, which is characteristic of that group. Differences in coloration and scalation between Bothrops sonene and the species of the B. neuwiedi group are summarized in Table 2. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | The specific epithet “sonene” is derived from the tacana language, and is the name used by the Ese’ejja for the Heath River. The Ese’ejja are an Amazonian community that inhabits the areas surrounding the Madre de Dios, Tambopata, and Heath Rivers, in the border between Peru and Bolivia. We named the new species “sonene” because its type locality, the Peruvian Pampas del Heath, is located near the Heath River. |
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