Aspidites Peters, 1877

Szyndlar, Zbigniew & Georgalis, Georgios L., 2023, An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column, Vertebrate Zoology 73, pp. 717-886 : 717

Aspidites Peters, 1877

Material examined.

Aspidites melanocephalus (Krefft, 1864) (NHMUK 1946.1.8.2 [part of the holotype]; QM J30786 ; UMMZ 190743) .

Description (Figs 152-157).

Trunk vertebrae. Centrum much shorter than wide; cotyle and condyle orbicular; neural arch vaulted; posterior median notch of the neural arch deep; neural spine higher than long in most trunk vertebrae; prezygapophyseal accessory processes vestigial; hypapophyses restricted to about the first 70 vertebrae; haemal keel moderately developed, ridge-like (more anterior vertebrae) to flattened (more posterior vertebrae); paracotylar foramina absent.

Trunk / caudal transition. The last trunk and cloacal vertebrae provided with a bulb-like haemal keel, disappearing in the anteriormost caudal vertebrae. Paired haemapophyses appear on the third caudal vertebra. Shape and length of haemapophyses in lateral view vary across the succeeding vertebrae: they are smaller in their first appearance, they get larger in C 6, possessing also a distinct anteroventral projection, and they get longer towards V 20. Posteriormost caudal vertebrae are fused.

Number of vertebrae. Aspidites melanocephalus (QM J30786): 363 (307+5+51).

Data from literature (all for Aspidites melanocephalus ): 337 trunk vertebrae plus 5 cloacal vertebrae plus 52 caudal vertebrae ( Scanlon 1993); 385 vertebrae in total ( Parmley and Reed 2003); 293 trunk and cloacal vertebrae plus 48+ caudal vertebrae ( Alexander and Gans 1966).