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Tropidophis preciosus CURCIO, SALES-NUNES, SUZART ARGOLO, SKUK & RODRIGUES, 2012

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Higher TaxaTropidophiidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymTropidophis preciosus CURCIO, SALES NUNES, SUZART ARGOLO, SKUK & RODRIGUES 2012
Tropidophis preciosus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 755
Tropidophis preciosus — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019
Tropidophis preciosus — ORTEGA-ANDRADE et al. 2022 
DistributionBrazil (Minas Gerais: southern versant of the Serra do Espinhaço)

Type locality: Conselheiro Mata, small village at approximately 40 km east from the municipality of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil  
Reproductionviviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: MZUSP 17957, not labeled in field, adult female, September 1989, collected by G. Skuk. Paratype: LZVUFOP 913 S, adult female, collected at Parque Estadual do Itacolomi, between the municipalities of Mariana and Ouro Preto, state of Minas Gerais, by B.Y.P. Imai and V.S. Monteiro. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Tropidophis preciosus is distinguishable from other mainland congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) high number of ventrals (196–203 vs. 154–155 in T. grapiuna, 164–183 in T. paucisquamis, and up to 160 in T. taczanowskyi); (2) dorsals at midbody 23 (vs. dorsals at midbody 21 or 23, rarely 25 in T. paucisquamis); (3) vertebral scale row distinctively enlarged at least on posterior one-third of trunk (vs. vertebral row similar in size to other dorsal rows in T. battersbyi, T. grapiuna, and T. taczanowskyi); (4) most dorsals smooth, except for some feebly keeled rows on anteriormost region of body (vs. dorsals strongly keeled in T. grapiuna and T. taczanowskyi); (5) interparietals lacking (vs. well developed interparietals present in T. battersbyi and T. grapiuna, usually present in T. taczanowskyi); (6) parietals in broad contact along middorsal line of head (vs. parietals fully separated by interparietals in T. battersbyi and T. grapiuna); (7) maxillary teeth 19 (vs. 12 in T. battersbyi); (8) body spotted, dorsal spots irregular and small, with a diameter of approximately two dorsal scales (vs. dorsal spots large, rounded or elliptical, up to four scales in diameter in T. battersbyi); (9) eight spot rows around body, six on dorsum and two on venter (vs. six spot rows around body, four on dorsum and two on venter in T. battersbyi); and (10) . 50 spots on paravertebral spot rows (vs. , 39 T. battersbyi, T. grapiuna and T. paucisquamis; not applicable to T. taczanowskyi).


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CommentHabitat: T. preciosus is the only species from the Atlantic Forest occurring in open landscapes of rocky meadows, whereas T. grapiuna and T. paucisquamis are clearly associated with forest formations. Semi-arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Distribution: see map in Ortega-Andrade et al. 2022: 5 (Fig. 1). 
EtymologyThe specific epithet is a Latin adjective in the nominative singular as a reference to the particular gem richness in the region of the type locality, especially in the municipalities of Diamantina, Ouro Preto and Mariana. 
References
  • Curcio, Felipe Franco; Pedro M. Sales Nunes, Antônio Jorge Suzart Argolo, Gabriel Skuk, and Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues 2012. Taxonomy of the South American Dwarf Boas of the Genus Tropidophis Bibron, 1840, With the Description of Two New Species from the Atlantic Forest (Serpentes: Tropidophiidae). Herpetological Monographs 26 (1): 80-121. - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Nogueira, Cristiano C.; Antonio J.S. Argôlo, Vanesa Arzamendia, Josué A. Azevedo, Fausto E. Barbo, Renato S. Bérnils, Bruna E. Bolochio, Marcio Borges-Martins, Marcela Brasil-Godinho, Henrique Braz, Marcus A. Buononato, Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, 2019. Atlas of Brazilian snakes: verified point-locality maps to mitigate the Wallacean shortfall in a megadiverse snake fauna. South American J. Herp. 14 (Special Issue 1):1-274 - get paper here
  • Ortega-Andrade, H. M., Bentley, A., Koch, C., Yánez-Muñoz, M. H., & Entiauspe-Neto, O. M. 2022. A time relic: a new species of dwarf boa, Tropidophis Bibron, 1840 (Serpentes: Amerophidia), from the Upper Amazon Basin. European Journal of Taxonomy, 854(1), 1-107 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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