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Vol. 64, 2025
A Key to Identify the Snakes of Rio
de Janeiro State, Brazil, along with Notes on Geographical Records
Igor
Veronese de Luna1 , Miguel Relvas Ugalde1,*, Mariana Rocha Santos Guimarães2, Kauann Hoffmann1,4, Nathalie Citeli1,3, Mara Cintia Kiefer4, and Breno Hamdan1,5
doi:-
1Laboratório
Coleções Biológicas e Biodiversidade (LCBB), Diretoria Científica,
Instituto Vital Brazil (IVB), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
*Correspondence: E-mail: miguelrugalde.ivb@gmail.com (Ugalde)
E-mail: veroneseigor.ivb@gmail.com (Veronese de Luna)
2Divisão de Herpetologia (DIHE), Diretoria Científica,
Instituto Vital Brazil (IVB), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. E-mail:
guimaraesmariana.ivb@gmail.com (Guimarães)
3Laboratório de Coleção Zoológica, Universidade
Católica de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil. E-mail: citeli@outlook.com
(Citeli)
4Laboratório de Ecologia Animal e Vegetal,
Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal Fluminense,
Instituto de Biologia, Outeiro de São João Batista s/n, Niterói, RJ,
24020-971, Brazil. E-mail: kauannhoffmann@id.uff.br (Hoffmann);
marackiefer@yahoo.com.br (Kiefer)
5Laboratório de Hemostase e Venenos, Instituto de
Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Universidade Federal do Rio de
Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil. E-mail:
brenohamdan2020@gmail.com (Hamdan)
((Received 16 July 2024 /
Accepted 6 April 2025 / Published -- 2025)
Communicated by Daniel Stec
The unequivocal identification of
species helps us understand and organize life and assess the
human-mediated impacts on biodiversity, allowing for an easier way to
communicate biological information. However, identifying vertebrates at
the species level is sometimes tricky for several reasons; therefore,
compiled information and illustrative tools may help tackle this
challenge. Even with questionable records, amounting to about 89
species, the state of Rio de Janeiro boasts a rich ophidiofauna with
similar species in external morphology, many of which are only known
from a few specimens and bear lengthy and complicated taxonomic
histories. Here, we present an identification key comprising the snakes
in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro and a photographic catalogue
for Colubridae and Dipsadidae, the most challenging families to
identify due to their high richness and interspecific similarities. Due
to the ongoing uncertainty about the richness and composition of snake
in Rio de Janeiro, we are presenting an updated checklist of the
species found in the state, along with notes on their geographical
distributions. We found two species of Anomalepididae, one Typhlopidae,
one Leptotyphlopidae, one Tropidophiidae, three Boidae, 15 Colubridae,
62 Dipsadidae, four Elapidae and eight Viperidae, adding up to 97
species. We then provide notable data for Drymarchon corais,
Erythrolamprus almadensis, Mesotes rutilus, Oxyrhopus rhombifer, and
Tantilla cf. melanocephala. This study makes distinguishing all species
ascribed to Rio de Janeiro easier and offers summarized characteristics
accessible to academic zoologists, wildlife managers, eco-tourists, and
environmental consultants. As a result, our research adds to the
efforts of numerous researchers who, in a pioneering and collaborative
manner, work together to gather knowledge about this ophidiofauna.
Keywords:
Species
identification, Taxonomy, Ophidia, Squamata, Snakes family
Citation: Veronese de Luna I, Ugalde MR,
Guimarães MRS, Hoffmann K, Citeli N, Kiefer MC, Hamdan B. 2025. A key
to identify the snakes of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, along with
notes on geographical records. Zool Stud 64:20.
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