Geophis tecpanecus Dugès, 1896

Flores-Villela, Oscar, Ríos-Muñoz, César A., Magaña-Cota, Gloria E. & Quezadas-Tapia, Néstor L., 2016, Alfredo Dugès’ type specimens of amphibians and reptiles revisited, Zootaxa 4092 (1) : 41

Geophis tecpanecus Dugès, 1896 b

The only specimen that Dugès used for this description was partially destroyed, i.e., the body in four pieces (Smith & Necker 1943). According to Dugès (1896b) the head was smashed and almost all of the teeth and the mandibular articulation were destroyed. Dugès (1896b) illustrated a reconstructed specimen and the portion of the skull that remained undamaged. The type specimen was still at the MADUG when Smith & Necker (1943) were there, and they presented a close up of the head. Soft parts of the type are apparently lost, and we were unable to find any indication of their existence despite checking all possible candidates. There is a skull, seven dorsal vertebra and three ribs in the collection (HE 1139, Fig. 7 B), and we assume these remains are part of the type. Dugès (1896b) drew the skull and the specimen at the MADUG coincides with plate XXVIII and the proportions depicted on this plate. Therefore, we consider these bones to be all that remains of the holotype.

There is additional information on this taxon. In 1898, Dugès described the genus Geatractus based on the same specimen arguing that the specimen presented characteristics of the genera Geophis and Atractus . He based part of his argument on the similarity of the remaining part of the skull saying it looked more similar to that of Atractus . However, he noted that the vertebrae were more similar to those of a Geophis (Dugès 1898) .

Current valid name: Tropidodipsas annulifera (Boulenger, 1894) .

Figures

FIGURE 7. A, Mandible of the holotype Erythrolamprus grammophrys (HE 1094); B, Parts of the skeleton of the type specimen of Geophis tecpanecus (HE 1139). C, Type specimen of Liophis janii (HE 102); D, Lectotype of Morenoa orizabensis (HE 126).