Leptophis haileyi MURPHY, CHARLES, LEHTINEN & KOELLER, 2013
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Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Tobagan Parrot Snake |
Synonym | Leptophis haileyi MURPHY, CHARLES, LEHTINEN & KOELLER 2013 |
Distribution | Tobago Type locality: Tobago near Roxborough at 11o 15′ 05.8′′N, 60o 34′ 04.7′′W. |
Reproduction | |
Types | Holotype: CAS 245313, male; collected by P.G. Frank, P.A. Frank, and R. Lawson in 2006. |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis. The only Tobago Leptophis to have a subacuminate snout in profile; the rostral barely visible from above; primary temporal in contact with three or four upper labials, including the last; prefrontal long (1.7 x the length of the internasal). Tobago L. coeruleodorsus prefrontal 1.3–1.5x the length of the internasal. All L. coeruleodorsus examined have two upper labials contacting primary temporal with last upper labial excluded from contact with primary temporal. In L. haileyi sp. nov., the last upper labial makes narrow contact with the primary temporal on both sides. L. haileyi sp. nov. has longitudinal dorsolateral stripes on the anterior body scale rows 2–4; nine upper labials, 2–3–4 at the loreal-prefrontal shield, 5–6 in the orbit; 5/4 lower labials at the first pair of chin shields, L. coeruleodorsus on Tobago has eight upper labials with 2–3 contacting the loreal-prefrontal shield, and 4+5 in the orbit. This species can also be distinguished from L. coeruleodorsus by its domed snout (prefrontal – internasal area), its relatively high ventral count (173), and proportionally shorter tail. The male holotype has a tail: SVL ratio (0.64) and a subcaudal count (166) that falls within the range of L. coeruleodorsus females. |
Comment | |
Etymology | This species is named in honor of Adrian Hailey, the University of the West Indies for his contributions to the herpetology of Trinidad and Tobago. |
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