Contribuição ao conhecimento de liophis meridionalis (schenkel, 1901) (serpentes: colubridae: xenodontinae)

Abstract

The genus Liophis Wagler, 1830, currently comprises 37, species distributed throughout South America. The geographical distribution of Liophis meridionalis (Schenckel, 1901), restricted to open vegetation, did not exceed 12°S until the identification of four specimens deposited in the Serpent Collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) from southern Pará state (Serra do Cachimbo; São Félix do Xingu; Conceição do Araguaia). By reviewing the MPEG snake collection, we identified a specimen from Humaitá (Amazon savanna area), Amazonas state, which represents a widening of the geographical distribution of this species. Through the analysis of the male genitalia (hemipennis) of the specimen from Serra do Cachimbo, it was observed that the general anatomical pattern is very distinct from the hemipen pattern described for the other species of the genus, confirming the need for new systematic-anatomical studies involving all species of the genus in order to better establish the generic composition, apparently paraphyletic, as already hypothesized in the literature. Systematic data (meristic and morphometric) of the five specimens of L. meridionalis from MPEG are presented, with the hemipenial description.