NOTA CIENTÍFICA .OOI'ROPOSED DELETION OF EIGHT SPECIES OF

SNAKF.SFROM TIIE BRAZILIAN STATI~OF RIOGUANDE DO SUL HERPETOFAUNA

Morros Di-Bemardo *

Márcio 1100xes-Martins**Roherto }Ja/ltisla de Oliveira*

RESUMO

Proposla de retirada rle oito espécies de serpentes da herpe'ofauna do Estado doRio Grande do Snl, Brasil

São rcvistas as citaçõcs dc cspécies de serpenles para o cstiHlo do Rio Grande doSul. Oito espécies. para as quais os registros silo equívoeos c/ou nilo são conhecidoscspécimes-testcmunho. silo retiradas. Silo elas o boídco EIII1<,cl('sl10laellS Cope. 1862e os coluhrídeos Chirol1illsjlavolilleallls (Jan, 1863), Uophi.1 n".ridiollalis (Schenkel,190 I), Uophis regillae (Linnaeus. 1758). Liophis Iyphlus (Linnacus, 1758), LYSlrophi.fsemicinclll.\' (Duméril. Bihron & Duméril, 1854), Sibynomor!,hll.f mikallii (Schlegel,1837) c Siphlo!,his Plllcher (Raddi, 1820). Após esta reavaliação, a rauna de scrpcn-tes do Rio Grande do Sul passa a ser composla por 73 espécics

P,,:nvras-chave: répteis, distrihuiçilo gcográfica, Doidac. ('oluhridac. Rio Gran-de do Sul.

Most or lhe knowledgc on lhe rcplilc fauna frol11the Slate of Rio Grande

do Sul (RS) was provided by Thales de Lema, who has workcd on this subjectsince lhe 1950's. During the last 45 years, Lema and collahorators published aseries of articles listing the reptile species ofRS (e.g. Lcma, 1958, 1973, 1982,]987, 1994; Lema & Fabián-Beunnann, 1977; Lema ei a/.. 1980, 1984; Lema

& Ferreira, 1990).The lasl and most comprehensive list of reptik3 from RioGrande do Sul was presented in Lema (1994), in which the author revised the

rrevious lists and made comments on the distribution of 78 species of snakes.Since then, three species have been added: Clelia bic%!' (Peracca, 1904),

-- --- -· Faculdadc dc l3iociências and Museu de Ciêneias e Tecnologia da ponrincia Universidade

Católica cio Rio Grande do Sul. Av. Ipiranga, 6681, CEP 90619-900. Porto Alegre, RS,I1ral.il. E-mail: madihe@puers.hrandrholivei@pucrs.br.

.. Museu d" Ciêm ias Nallllais. Fundaçno Zooholâniea do Rio Grande do Sul. Rua DI'. Salvador

França, 1427, CEI' 90690-000. Porto Alegre. RS, Rrazil. E-mail: marciohmartins@fzh.rs.gov.br

COI11UI1.Mus. Ciêl1c Tecl1or. PUCRS. Sér. Zoal.. Porto Alegre. v. 17. 11. I. p. 45-50. jan.-jun. 2004

46 47

reported by Zaher (1996), Micr/ltlls lell/niscat/ls (Linnaeus, 1758), reportedby Di-Bernardo et aI. (2001), and Apostolepis q/lirogai Giraudo & Scrocchi,1998,reported by Lema & Cappellari (2001).

. Attempting to access the conservationstatus of the reptile species fromRS (Borges-Martinset aI., 2002; Di-Bernardoet aI., 2003), we carried out awide revision of records of ali species cited as occurrll1g in the slate. Theresults of lhe aCCllnllJlalcd rcsearch have prodnced no evidence (lf lheoccurrence of eighl spccics 01"snakes recorded mistakenly, or to which Ihereis no voucher material.

Chironillsflavolineallls (.Ian, 1863)was rnenlioned by Lema (1994) tothe "EncoslaInferiordoNordesle". Lema(OfJ.cit.) recorded thespeciesafterexamining seven embryonic eggs in lhe final stage of development (notincluded in any collection). TJlecggs were fOllndbetween lhe roots of a bigtree in nalive forest, in the upper portion of Rio dos Sinos, Poço do Carvão,

municipalily ofSão Leopoldo.Twoeggswereopened,revealingembryoswithcolors similar to the adlllt of C. flavolineallls. following Dixon el aI. (1993),in Brazil, C. flavolincal/ls occurs in the grasssteppesof the MarajóIsland(Pará), in caatinga-agreste-savannaformalionsof northeastern Brazil, and inthe CamposCerrados of Mato Grosso, Bahia,Goiás, Minas Gerais, and São

Paulo.Dixonet aI.(op. cit.) alsostatedthat"it seemsto becommonknowledgethat this species lives in grassland-savanl1asiluations".The arca in which theeggs were found is not in accordancewith lhe supposed habitats ofthe species,and falls far outofits known geographical range, Jeaving ~s to assume that lheembryoscorrespondto other species.

Eunecles notaells Cope, 1862 was added to theherpetofaunaofthe RSbyLema (1987). IIe staled Ihat individuaisof this speciesreach the stale wheninvoluntarily dragged from northern regions by lhe Uruguay River, duringflooding periods. Following Lema (1994), some specimens collected inUruguaiana in 1990 were deposiled in the lI1useurnof the Facilidade deZootecnia. Ilowever, the IInique spccil11en of E. nolac/ls deposited in thatcollection (one unnlll11bcrcd, taxidermizcd head) is frol11Argentina (M.V.M.Queroland/\.B. Santos,2002, Curatorsofthe IlerpetologicalCollection,pers.com.). This species is found il1norlhwesterlÍ Urllgllay (/\chaval-Elena, 200 I),and eastern Corrientes, Argentina (Giraudo, 2001). The proximity of theseareas to RS is noteworthy, leaving us to assume that the species may actually

reach Ihis state. /\lthollgh, to our knowledge, no specimen from the RS ispreserved in any herpetological collection. Therefore, we cautiously preferreddo not consider its occllrrence in this state.

UOIJhis IIIcridionalis (Schenkel, 190 I) was attribllted 10 RS by Lema

(1987), who wrole: "Cilation of lIoge (1952). Wedid no! see it" [translationby lhe allthors]. lIoge (1952) did not mention the species (at that time it was

considered as subspecies of Uophis lineatlls (Linnaeus, 1758» from RS, but10"sollthern Brazil", and lisled specimens hOllsed in the collection of Instituto

nlllanl..n prorccding from lhe Arazilian states ofMinas (Jerais, MaIo Grosso,SiI" I'alllo and I'arami. The asslII1Iplion 01' I.erna (199'1) Ihal I,. ",('/'idirJ/1(/li.~

reaches thl' northwl'stern RS nceds conlirmalion, sincc. 10 0111'knowledge, noindividual IVasever rccordcd.

Dixon (1983, 1(89) plotlcd one specilllen of LiofJhi.l'reginac (Linl1aeus,1758) inlo lhe mal' of RS. According to Dixon (200 I, in litt.), the mal' is in

error, and lhe specific plot was based on ol1e specimen (j'0111Minas Gerais

(Museu de Zoologia da Univcrsidade de São Paulo, MZUSP 829). HlIssarnZ<lher (200 I, pers. com.) revised lhe daI a on this spccimcn, and:onfirmedIhal il \Vas collectcd in lhe IIlllnicipality of Pirapor<l, Mil1(ls Gerais. TheasslII1Iplion of LCl11a (1994) lhal L. /'eginac reaches lhe northweslern RS

seellls 10be hased on Dixon's (1983, J(89) mal'.

UOfJhi.l' tYfJhlll.l'(Linnaeus, 1758) was inclllded in the herpetofauna ofweslern RS by Lema (1987). Later, Lema (1994) reslricted the geographicdislriblltion of lhe species to the municipality of São Borja. In both cases,however, no voucher was cited. Following Dixon (1987, j 989), thesouthernmosl range oflhis species is northeasternParami,Brazil, in locations

aI leasl 600 km from São Bo~ja. We have not found any specimens of L. typhlusrrom RS in any herpetological colleclion, and sllggest thal further evidence isneeded for consideringIhis species as pertaining to the RS herpetofilllna.

We arglle for lhe excJusion of Lystrophis .l'emicinctll.l' (Duméril, Bibron &

Dllméril, 1854) from the list ofthe snakes ofRS becallse specil11ens ofthisspecies \Vere ncver recorded in Ihis State, despite references in Lema & Fabián-

BellI'Jnann (1977) and Lema (1987, 1994). Lema & Fabián-Beurrnann(1977)slaled Ihal lhe species "is rarely fOllnd in RS" [Iranslation hy the authorsl, butno spccimcn 01' locality W<lSgiven. Lema (1987) probahly lollo\Ved Lema &

Fabián-BclIrmann (1977). Lema (1994) n1(linlained lhe spccics in its lisl, butaffinnerl Ihal he never saw specimens from RS.

UnIil Franco's revision (franco, 19(4) of the name Sihynomorpllllsmikanii (Schlegel, 1837), it was applied erroneously to designate thespecil1';;ns ofS. neuwiedi from RS (e.g. Lema, 1987). Lel11a(1994) followedfn1l1co's t<lxonomic arrangemcnt, but cited S. mikanii as "very rare in RS"wilholll reporting any specimen. According to Franco (1994), the southernmost

range of S mikol1ii is Ihc northern portion of Santa Calarina. We suggest Ihat

Comun. Mus. (,iêne. Teenol. I'lJCRS. S~r. 7.001.. I'orto Alegre. v. 17. n I. p. 45-50. jall.-juII. 2004COlllllll. Mus Ciêlle. Teellol. I'UCRS, Sér. 7.001, Porto Alegre. v. 17, 11 '. I' 45-50. jan.-jun. 2004

48 49

LITERATURE CITED

Dixon..I R, 1(11), SystclIlalies 01' UOl'his /'('gil/tll' and I \I'iI/iam.ri (Serpentes,Colubridae), with a descriptiou 01'a new species, Ann, Carneg. Mus., Piltsburgh,52(6): '13-138,

_ _ 1987. TnxonolllY and geographic variation 01' L/ol'l1i.r Iyphlus and related"grcen" spcdes 01' South AlIlerica (Serpentes: Colubrida<~). Ann. Carneg. Mus.,I'iltshurgh. 56(8): 173-191.

_ . 1989. A kcy and checklisl to the Neotropical snakc genus UOl'his whithcnunlr)' lists and lIlaps. Sl1Iithsonian 'lerpetologicallnfonl1ation Service. Washing-ton. 7(): 1-,10.

Di\nn. .I, IC; Wicsl .lr...I. A. &. Cei,.I. M. 1993. Revision 01'thc Neotropical snakesgenus Chimlli/l.r Fitzingcr (Serpentes. Colubridac). 'Ji)f'ino, Museo Regionale diSeienze Naturali, (Monografie XIII). 279 p.

Frauco. I" I.. 1994. O gênero SibY/lOlIIo/'phus Fitzinger, I R43. no nrasil (Colubridae;Xenodonliuae; Dipsadini). Dissertação de Mestrado. FaLuldade de Biociências,l'ontif1cia Universidade CatÓlica do Rio Grande do Sul. 1.14p.

Giraudo, A. R. 200 I. Serpientes de Ia Selva Paranaense y dei Chaco IIÚmedo. BuenosAires. L.O,L.i\. 32R p.

lIoge. A. R. '952. Notes on l,ygol'his Fitzinger - revalidalion 01' two subspecies.Mern. Inst. Butantan. São Paulo. 24(2): 245-268.

Lema. 'I'. 195R, Notas sobre os répteis do estado do Rio Grande do Sul- Brasil. NotasI a IV. (heringia, Sér. Zool.. Porto Alegre, (10): I-I R,.

_' :973. As serpentes do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Iheringia, Sér. Divulg.,Porto Alegre. (3): 19-33.

_' 19R2.Fauna de serpentes da provlncia pampeanae inler-relaçôes com as pro-víncias lilllítrofes. Mem. Inst. Rutantan, São Paulo, (46): 173-182.

__o 1987. Lista preliminar das serpentes registradas para o estado do Rio Urandedo Sul (Brasil Meridional) (Reptilia, Lepidosaurifl. Squamata). Acta Biol.Leopoldensia. São Leopoldo, 9(2): 225-240.

__o 1994. Lista comentada dos répteis ocorrentes no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.COlllun. Mus. Ciênc. Tecnol. PUCRS, Sér. Zool.. Porto Alegre, 7: 41-150.

Lema. T. &. Cappellari. L. 11. 2001. Geographic distrihution: Aposlolepis qllirogai.I/erp. Revicw, SI. Louis, 32(2): 121.

Lemfl. 1'. &. Fahián-Beurmann, M. E. 1977. Levantamento preliminar dos répteis darl'gi~o da fronleira nmsil-lh IIgu:Jj, Iheringia. Porto Akgn'. (50): li 1-92.

Lema. '1'.. Fahi;Ín-Beurmann, M. E.; Lcitão-de-Araujo. M.: AI\'es, M. L. M. & Vieira,M, 1. 1980. I.isla de répteis l'neontrfldos tUlRegi~o da Grande Porto Alegre, Estadodo Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Iheringia, Porto Alegre, (55): 27-36.

Lema. T. &. Ferreira. M. T. S. 1990. Contribuição ao eonhecimcnto dos Testudines doRio Grande do Sul (Brasil) - Listfl sistemática comentada (Reptilia). Acta Biol.I,eopoldensia. S1\o I,copoldo, 12( I): 125-1ó4.

Lema. T.; Vieira. M. I. &.Leit1\o-de-Amujo.M. 1984. Fauna reptiliana do Norte da(irande Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Revta, nl flS.7.001., Rio de Janei-ro, 2(4): 203-227.

S. mikollii should hc removed rrom the list orsnakes ofRS, sinee no specimenis known 10Ihis slate.

Siphlop"is pulc"e/' (Raddi, 1820) was citeel to the state 01'Rio Grande doSul by Peters & Orcjas-Minll1da (1970), and to the mlmicipfllity of Torres(RS) by Lema (1987, 1(94), hut no specimens \Verereferred by these authors.Prudente (1998), following Lema (1987. '99-1), citc S. 11lllr:"e/,to lhe RS.Notwithstanding, Prudente (pers. COI11.200') diel not find any individunl 01'S. fJ/llc:he/'from RS anel' examining the 1110stimportant Brflzilinn ('ollections.In addilion, Lema (pcrs. COI11.2003) sniel Ihat no individlml 01' Ihis specics.proeeeding rrom RS, was ever seen, and Ihat the previous citations (Lema1987, 1994) were made considering the existence ofthis species ;n lhe nearbystate ofSanta Calarina. We suggesl that rurlher evidence is needed rrior 10 theinclusion of this species in lhe herpetoraunaspecies list 01'RS.

ACKNOWLEDGEMF:NTS

To Airton Batista Santos and Mareus V. M. Querol (Pol1tilieifllJniversidade Ca-tólicado RS.Uruguaial1a).Ana I.Úeia da Costa Prudel1te(Museu I'araense EmílioGoeldi, Belém). Francisco Luís Franco (Instituto Bulantan. S1\oPaulo), Glaucia Ma-ria Funk Pontes, .losé Francisco I'ezzi da Silva and Thalcs de I.ema (Pontilieia Uni-versidade Católica do RS, Porto Alegre). Hussam EI Dine Zahcr (Museu de Zoologiada Universidade de S1\oPaulo, S1\oPaulo). James R, Dixon (Texas A & M University.Collcge Station, USA), Moema Leitão de Araujo (Museu de Ciências Naturais daFundação Zoobotâniea do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre), Sônia Tere7.inha ZaniniCechin (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria). and Eliseu Dias forproviding data and il1/imnation. .101111Measey (Université Paris VI. Rondy Cedex,France) and Tami Molt (University ofCalifornia. Berkeley. USA) gently revised firstdrafis ofthc manuscripl.

Achaval-Elena, F. 200 I. Aetuali7.acilÍn sistemática y mflras de distribueiÓn de losreptiles dellJruguay. Smithsonian lIerpetological Information Serviee, Washing-ton, 129: 1-37.

Borges-Martins. 1'.1.:Di-Rernardo. M. &.Oliveira. R. n. 2002. Répteis. 1'. 29-30, il/:Marque~. A.A.I\.: F!'lItana. C.S.; Vl'll'I. 1:.; Ikneke. (i.A.: Sehneider. M. &. Reis.R. (eds.). Lista dfls espécies da fallna ameaçadas de extil1çi\o no Rio (,mnde doSul. Decrelo n" " 1.672. de 11 de junho de 2002. Porto Alegre. Fi'J \!M ( 'T-l'lJCRSIPANGEA. 52 p. (I'uhlicações Avulsas FZB. 11).

Di-Dernarrlo, M; Rorges-Martins. M. & Cappellari. L. 11. 200 I. Geographic Dis-tríbution. Mic/'/I/'l/s lellll/i.rcal/ls (South Al11erk~n Coral Snake). flerp. Revíew.SI. Louis. 32( I): 60.

Di-Bernardo, M.: Borges-Martins. M. & Oliveim, R. B. 2003. Répteis. 1'. 165-1 RI!.il1: Fonlmla. C. S., Bencke. G. A. &. ({eis. R. (eds.). Livro vermelho da f1l\maameaçatla de extinç1\o no Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre. EDll'lICRS.

Comun. Mus. Ciêne. TeenoII'UCRS. Sér, 7,001, raclo Alegre. v, 17. n. I. p. 45-50. jan.-jun. 2004 COI1lUII.Mus, Ciêne. Tecnol. PUCRS, Sér. 1.,001..Porto Alegre, v. 17, n I, P, 45-50, jan.-jun. 2004

50

Peters.J.A. & Orejas-Miranda, B. 1970. Catalogue ofthe Neolropical Sqllarnata. PartI. Snakcs. BIIII.U. S.Na!. Mus~.297: viii ~ 1-347.

Prudente, A.L.C. 1998. Rcvis,10,lilogenia e alimcnlaç50 de Siphlophis Fitzinger. 1843(Serpentes, Coluhridae, Xcnodontinac, Pselldohoini). Tcse de dOlltorado. Setor dcCiênciasBiológicas.UnivcrsidadeFederaldo Paraná.1651"

Zaher, 11. 1996. A new genus and spceies of Pscudohoine snake, wilh a revision ofthe genus Clelia (Serpentes, Xcnodontinae). Boll. Mus. Reg. Sei. Na!. Torino,Torino, 14(2): 289-337.

Rceehido cm: 16 dczcmbro 2003; aceito cm: 16 janeiro 2004.

Comun. Mus. Ciêne. Tecnol. PUCl~S. Sér. Zool., Porto Alegre, v. 17, n. I, p. 45-50, jan.-jun. 2004