Cophias holosericeus Wied, 1821

Vanzolini, Paulo E. & Myers, Charles W., 2015, The Herpetological Collection Of Maximilian, Prince Of Wied (1782 - 1867), With Special Reference To Brazilian Materials, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2015 (395), pp. 1-155 : 66

Cophias holosericeus Wied, 1821

1821 Reise 2: 243.

1824 Isis : 670 (mentioned).

1825 Beitra¨ge: 490.

PRESENT STATUS: A nomen oblitum, possibly equal to the later-named Xenodon rabdocephalus Wied, 1824 .

REMARKS: This species was formally described in the Reise, based on one specimen from Cabec¸a de Boi in Bahia (13 ° 509S, 39 ° 179W). In the 1824 Isis the species is mentioned as ‘‘unbestimmt,’’ i.e., at best doubtful. In the Beitra¨ge, after a description as usual, Wied made some very surprising comments. After he rearranged his argu- ments and observations, Wied concluded that essentially the specimen had disappeared from its bottle, but that the description fitted exactly Coluber rabdocephalus . An error had been made in identifying a colubrid as a viperid (extenuations were offered). Wied saw two alternatives: the snake would be rediscovered, or sunk in the synonymy of C. rabdocephalus . The point may have been germane at the time of writing, but has long since ceased to have any importance, as the name—a nomen oblitum—has fallen into the limbo of indeterminacy. Boulenger (1896: 535), for example, included it in the synonmy of the composite species Lachesis lanceolatus and Peters and Orejas-Miranda (1970: 55) have it as Bothrops incertae sedis (probably atrox , jararaca , or jararacussu).