Is the horned pitviper Ceratrimeresurus shenlii Liang and Liu, 2003　from China a valid Protobothrops?

论文题目:

Is the horned pitviper Ceratrimeresurus shenlii Liang and Liu, 2003　from China a valid Protobothrops?

作者:

Shiping Gong, Ellen Hitschfeld, Anna K. Hundsd？rfer, Markus Auer, Fumin Wang, Lihua Zhou, Uwe Fritz

年:

2011

卷:

32

页:

132-135

联系作者:

龚世平

发表期刊:

Amphibia-Reptilia

ISSN:

0173-5373

原文链接:

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摘要:

Previous records of horned pitvipers from Vietnam and China are reviewed and the phylogenetic placement of four snakes from two sites in Tianjingshan Forest, China (Ruyan County, Guangdong Province; 24°43′N, 113°03′E, 563 m a.s.l.; 24°43′N, 113°02′E, 585 m a.s.l.) is examined. Using mitochondrial DNA sequence data (12S, 16S, ND4, cytb; 2306 bp) and Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood analyses, the Tianjingshan pitvipers are revealed as sister to Protobothrops cornutus with a differentiation resembling those of P. flavoviridis and P. tokarensis. This indicates a close relationship with P. cornutus and suggests that Ceratrimeresurus shenlii Liang and Liu, 2003, previously considered a junior synonym of P. cornutus (Smith, 1930), could be a valid subspecies of P. cornutus or a recently split distinct species. However, further studies and samples from intermediate localities are needed to decide whether the observed differentiation reflects a pattern of isolation-by-distance or a phylogeographic, and thus perhaps taxonomically relevant, break.