Levitonius mirus WEINELL, PALUH, SILER & BROWN, 2020

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Higher Taxa	Cyclocoridae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Waray Dwarf Burrowing Snake
Synonym	Levitonius mirus WEINELL, PALUH, SILER & BROWN 2020
Distribution	Philippines (Eastern Samar, Leyte) Type locality: Philippines, Samar Island, Eastern Samar Province, Taft, Barangay San Rafael (11.8298 ºN, 125.2768 ºE), 187 m elevation.
Reproduction
Types	Holotype: PNM 9872 (formerly KU 337269; field number RMB 19087), adult male, collected by Kerry Cobb and Rafe M. Brown, 1900–2100 hrs, 17 June 2014. Paratypes (n=2): KU 305488 (field number CDS 1846), adult male, collected by Cameron D. Siler and Charles Linkem, 16 June 2006; KU 311281 (field number CDS 3403), adult female, collected by Cameron D. Siler, approximately 1200 hrs, 1 January 2007.
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (genus). Members of the genus Levitonius can be distinguished by the possession of five supralabial scales, 15 longitudinal rows of dorsal scales throughout the length of the body, and subcaudal scales unpaired.
Comment	Diet: unknown, but skull morphology suggests that they eat slender-bodied prey, such as earthworms. (Weinell et al. 2020). Type species: Levitonius mirus is the type species of the genus Levitonius WEINELL, PALUH, SILER & BROWN 2020.
Etymology	The species epithet mirus is a Latin adjective, meaning unexpected finding or surprise—a fitting specific epithet for the miniaturized, phylogenetically unique evolutionary lineage represented by the new genus and species described here. The suggested common name, the Waray Dwarf Burrowing Snake, honors the Waray-waray people of the eastern Visayas, in particular the Samareños who live in vicinity of the type locality, among the forested mountains of Samar Island, and the Leyteños who inhabit the new genus’ only other documented locality in the montane forests of Leyte Island.
References	Weinell, J. L., & Brown, R. M. 2017. Discovery of an old, archipelago-wide, endemic radiation of Philippine snakes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 119: 144–150 [2018] - get paper here Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Daniel J. Paluh, Cameron D. Siler, Rafe M. Brown 2020. A New, Miniaturized Genus and Species of Snake (Cyclocoridae) from the Philippines. Copeia 108 (4): 907-923 - get paper here Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Errol Hooper, Alan E. Leviton, Rafe M. Brown 2019. Illustrated Key to the Snakes of the Philippines. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (4) 66 (1): 1-49 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:27901547-0A54-4733-8F8D… https://www.facebook.com/groups/stshc/posts/258485936376012/ Google images

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