A relict lineage and new species of green palm-pitviper (Squamata, Viperidae, Bothriechis) from the Chortis Highlands of Mesoamerica

作者：Townsend Josiah H^*; Medina Flores Melissa; Wilson Larry David; Jadin Robert C; Austin James D

来源：ZooKeys, 2013, 298(298): 77-105.

DOI：10.3897/zookeys.298.4834

• Bothriechis guifarroi sp n.
• Bothriechis lateralis
• Bothriechis marchi
• Central America
• conservation
• cryptic species
• endemic
• Honduras
• Pico Bonito National Park
• Texiguat Wildlife Refuge

A new species of palm-pitviper of the genus Bothriechis is described from Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texiguat in northern Honduras. The new species differs from congeners by having 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody, a bright green dorsal coloration in adults, the prelacunal scale fused to the second supralabial, and in representing a northern lineage that is sister to B. lateralis, which is distributed in Costa Rica and western Panama and is isolated from the new taxon by the Nicaraguan Depression. This represents the 15th endemic species occurring in Refugio de Vida Silvestre Texiguat, one of the richest herpetofaunal sites in Honduras, itself being the country with the highest degree of herpetofaunal endemism in Central America. We name this new species in honor of a Honduran conservationist slain in fighting against illegal logging, highlighting the sacrifices of rural activists in battling these issues and the critical importance of conservation in these areas.

• 出版日期2013