Bothrocophias myersi, Gutberlet Jr. & Campbell, 2001

GUTBERLET, JR, RONALD L. & CAMPBELL, JONATHAN A., 2001, Generic Recognition for a Neglected Lineage of South American Pitvipers (Squamata: Viperidae: Crotalinae), with the Description of a New Species from the Colombian Chocó, American Museum Novitates 3316, pp. 1-16 : 7

Bothrocophias myersi , new species

Botrops lanceolatus —García, 1896: 22 [not of Bonnaterre, 1790; placement of this name here is tentative].

Bothrops pulcher [not of Peters, 1862]—Pérez­Santos and Moreno, 1988: 358 [in part, also included undetermined taxa from Amazonian forests of Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia]; Campbell and Lamar, 1989: 221 [in part, included B. campbelli ]; Campbell and Lamar, 1992: 11 [in part, included B. campbelli ]; Vázquez de Kartzow, 1995: 86.

Porthidium almawebi Schätti and Kramer, 1993: 258 . Holotype: MHNG 2248.12. Type locality: ‘‘ San Francisco de las Pampas (0°26′ S x 78°57′ W, Cotopaxi, ca. 1’ 800 m ü M.)’’ [In part, included B. campbelli ].

Porthidium almawebi —Golay et al., 1993: 83 [in part, included B. campbelli ].

Bothrops campbelli —McDiarmid et al., 1999: 259 [in part, included B. campbelli ].

HOLOTYPE: American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH) 109812 (original field number CWM 11878); an adult female (figs. 3, 4) from Quebrada Guanguı´, 0.5 km above the Río Patia, Department of Cauca, Colombia, 100–200 m, collected by C. W. Myers and J. W. Daly, 16–17 February 1973.

PARATYPES: All from Colombia: Cauca: Quebrada Guanguı´, ca. 0.5 km above the Río Patia , 100–200 m ( AMNH 107919–20 ) ; Valle del Cauca: Pacific coast on road Buenaventura–Río Calima ( FMNH 165586–96 ) ; Caimancito, S of Buenaventura, on bank of Río Cajambre, 75 m ( UTA R­21689); Buenaventura , near Río Raposo ( USNM 151708 , 154051 ) .

DIAGNOSIS: A moderately stout, terrestrial pitviper reaching a maximum known total length of 756 mm that may be distinguished from all other New World rattleless pitvipers by the following combination of characters: (1) 139–151 ventrals; (2) 44–52 divided subcaudals; (3) 21–23 dorsal scale rows at midbody; (4) prelacunal fused with second supralabial; (5) 3–6 smooth intersupraoculars; (6) 7 supralabials; (7) reddish­brown dorsal coloration in life; (8) distinctive white spots on some gular and infralabial scales.

COMPARISONS: Bothrocophias myersi and B. campbelli are easily distinguished from their Amazonian congeners by the presence of a lacunolabial (prelacunal not fused to second supralabial in B. microphthalmus and B. hyoprora ). Additionally, B. hyoprora is the only member of the genus with undivided subcaudals. Bothrocophias myersi differs from B. campbelli in having fewer ventrals (139–151 vs. 162–177), fewer subcaudals (44–52 vs. 48–64), fewer intersupraoculars (3–6 vs. 6–8), and fewer prefoveals (1–2 vs 2–4). All known specimens of B. myersi except one (UTA R­21689, a small specimen with a banded pattern) have a distinctive brown­bronze dorsum in preservative, which differs from the distinctly banded dorsum of juvenile and adult B. campbelli . Because the holotype of B. myersi was reddish­brown in life and is now brown­bronze in preservative, we presume that all the brown­bronze specimens were reddish­brown in life. Table 1 summarizes additional variation among the four species of Bothrocophias .

Bothrocophias myersi is potentially sympatric with five pitviper species: Bothriechis schlegelii , Bothriopsis punctata , Bothrops asper , Lachesis stenophrys , and Porthidium nasutum (Campbell and Lamar, 1989; Zamudio and Greene, 1997). Bothriechis schlegelii and Bothriopsis punctata have prehensile tails (tail not prehensile in B. myersi ). Also, B. schlegelii has undivided subcaudals and spinelike superciliary scales, and B. punctata has many more ventrals (175–213) than does B. myersi . Bothrops asper and Lachesis stenophrys attain considerably greater lengths and also have higher ventral scale counts (161–240 and>199, respectively). The twice­divided distal subcaudals of Lachesis are unique to that genus. Porthidium nasutum bears 24–41 undivided subcaudals, lacks a lacunolabial, has a rostral scale that is markedly higher than broad, and has fewer ventrals (123–145).

DESCRIPTION OF HOLOTYPE: An adult female; rostral almost rectangular, but slightly wider ventrally, almost as wide as high (4.2 X 4.3 mm); nasal incompletely divided above naris, distinctly divided below naris; loreal single, bordered anterodorsally by Fig. 3.