Dolichophis

Abstract: Reptiles are still being described worldwide at a pace of hundreds of species a year. While many discoveries are from remote tropical areas, biodiverse arid regions still harbor many novel taxa. Here, we present an updated phylogeny of colubrid snakes from the Western Palearctic by analyzing a supermatrix of all available global snake species with molecular data and report on the discovery of a new genus and species of colubrine snake from southeastern Iran. The new taxon, named Persiophis fahimii Gen. et sp. nov., is nested within a clade containing Middle Eastern and South Asian ground racers (Lytorhynchus, Rhynchocalamus, Wallaceophis, and Wallophis). This species has a derived morphology including an edentulous pterygoid and occurrence of short and blunt teeth on the palatine, maxillae and dentary bones, an elongated snout and a relatively trihedral first supralabial scale that is slightly bigger than the second, and elongated toward the tip of rostral. We also report on the osteology and phylogenetic placement of several poorly studied colubrines: Hierophis and reanus (reassigned to Dolichophis) and Muhtarophis barani.

Abstract: We report new localities of Dolichophis jugularis, Dolichophis schmidti and Eirenis (Pediophis) eiselti from Malazgirt (Mus province) in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Dolichophis schmidti and Eirenis eiselti were recorded from Mus province for the first time while we present the easternmost locality of Dolichophis jugularis in Turkey with a considerable range extension.

Abstract: To date there are few detailed and quantitative studies investigating the evolution of the tooth shape and function in Aglyphous snakes in relation to diet. To study dental adaptations to diet, a lineage that is of particular interest due to its large range of adult body sizes, is the one including dwarfed snakes of the genus Eirenis and their immediate sister group, whip snakes of the genus Dolichophis. A considerable evolutionary decrease in the size is observed from a Dolichophis-like ancestor to the miniature Eirenis, coupled with a considerable shift in their diet from a regime consisting mainly of endotherms with endoskeleton to ectotherms bearing a hard exoskeleton. Maxilla, palatine, pterygoid and dentary teeth were examined in an adult and a juvenile of Dolichophis schmidti, one Eirenis punctolineatus and one Eirenis persicus. 3D Geometric Morphometrics comparison revealed maxilla and palatine teeth of the E. persicus are blunt and conical shape while those teeth are sharp and elongated in E. punctatolineatus as well as the adult and juvenile D. schmidti. A similar difference could be noted for the pterygoid teeth. In contrast, the dentary teeth are not as different among the examined snakes. Blunt and conically shaped teeth, as observed in E. persicus, seem to be more adapted for biting hard bodied, arthropod prey, while sharp and elongated teeth in Dolichophis and E. punctatolineatus, are specialized for puncturing endotherm prey. The results of a finite element analysis confirms that during biting a hard bodied prey, the generated stresses in E. persicus tooth is mostly confined to the tip of the tooth and mostly well below the von Mises yield criterion the tooth. In contrary, D. schmidti tooth appears less well suited for biting a hard prey since the generated stresses widely distribute across the tooth with values roughly 2 to 3 times higher than the von Mises yield criterion of the tooth. A lower degree of specialization that was observed among the dentary teeth in the examined snakes suggest a similar functional constraint in pushing the prey against the upper tooth rows.

Abstract: Central and southern Iraq in the area adjacent to and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, known as Mesopotamian plain. The Mesopotamian plain is a geological depression filled with rivers sediments which covers the central and southern part of Iraq. It is plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, beings north of Baghdad and extends to southern Iraq, bordered by High Mountain in the east, desert from the west, and Persian Gulf from the south. An area of diverse physical features leading to rich biodiversity. An investigation of the status of snakes in central and southern Iraq was carried out from September 2013 to May 2015. A total of 138 specimens were collected and identified. Five families, 13 genera, and 17 species are represented, including Lyptotyphlopidae: Lyptotyphlops macrorhyncha (Jan, 1861); Boidae: Eryx jaculus jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758), Eryx jaculus familiaris Eichwald, 1831, Eryx cf. miliaris (Pallas, 1773); Lamprophiidae: Psammophis schokari (Forsskal, 1775), Malpolon insignitus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827), Rhagerhis moilensis (Reuss, 1834); Colubridae: Dolichophis cf. caspius (Gmelin, 1789), Dolichophis jugularis (Linnaeus 1785), Dolichophis cf. schmidti (Nikolsky, 1909), Spalerosophis diadema cliffordi (Schlegel, 1837), Platyceps ventromaculatus (Gray, 1834), Natrix tessellata (Laurenti, 1768); and Viperidae: Pseudocerastes persicus fieldi K. Schmidt, 1930, Macrovipera lebetina (Linnaeus, 1758), Cerastes gasperettii gasperettii Leviton et Anderson, 1967, and Echis carinatus Stemmler, 1969. According to the literature, 41 species of snakes were found in Iraq and according to the results of this survey 17 species and subspecies (~41%) of them occur in central and southern Iraq. Of these, 10 species are aglypha, 3 species opisthoglypha and 4 species proteroglypha. This study was conducted in 27 sampling localities and these project areas represent typical environment and climate of the central and southern regions of Iraq.