''Liophidium pattoni'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of snake in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Pseudoxyrhophiinae The Pseudoxyrhophiidae is a Family (biology), family of Elapoidea, elapoid Lamprophiidae, snakes, found mostly in Madagascar. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct fami ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Pseudoxyrhophiidae The Pseudoxyrhophiidae is a family of elapoid snakes, found mostly in Madagascar. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. It contains about 22 genera Genus ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Little is known about the snake as it was recently described in 2010, although its existence had been known for some decades (one was pictured in a 1996 guidebook) before a specimen could be caught for detailed study.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''pattoni'', is in honor of American mammalogist James L. Patton.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Liophidium pattoni'', p. 201).

Geographic range and habitat

''L. pattoni'' is known to occur in two sites in Madagascar, the

Masoala peninsula Masoala National Park, in northeast Madagascar, is the largest of the island's protected areas. Most of the park is situated in Sava Region and a part in Analanjirofo. Created in 1997, the park protects 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest and ...

and the Makira Plateau. It has been found in primary rainforest vegetation at elevations up to . Masoala_park_madagascar_map

Taxonomy

Originally described in 2010, ''Liophidium pattoni'' is a member of the pseudoxyrhophiine

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Liophidium ''Liophidium'' is a genus of snakes in the family Pseudoxyrhophiidae. The genus contains ten species, nine of which are endemic to the island of Madagascar and one to the island of Mayotte. All species of ''Liophidium'' are harmless to humans. ...

'', which is a genus of lamprophiid snakes. Which means that ''Liophidium pattoni'' is harmless to humans. Previously, nine species of ''Liophidium'' from Madagascar had been formally described. Molecular evidence indicates that the closest sister taxon to ''L. pattoni'' is ''L. rhodogaster'' (

Schlegel Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), American football player * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, brother of Friedrich * Brad Schlegel (born 1968), C ...

, 1837). (''Liophidium pattoni'', new species)

Description

''L. pattoni'' can easily be distinguished from other members of the genus ''Liophidium'' by its unique color pattern. This species is most similar in external morphology to ''L. torquatum''. It is a thin-bodied snake with a black dorsum with discontinuous pink stripes that fade to blue-gray and white towards the posterior. The ventral coloration is bright yellow with a pink-red ventral tail region. An adult male can be in total length (including tail), and have a snout-vent length (SVL) of , and a head length of .

Diet

''L. pattoni'' is a terrestrial hunter, and while its diet is largely unknown, the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was collected with a Malagasy ground skink ('' Madascincus melanopleura'') in its stomach, suggesting that it feeds on small terrestrial rainforest fauna.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3242017 Pseudoxyrhophiidae Snakes of Africa Reptiles of Madagascar Endemic fauna of Madagascar Reptiles described in 2010 Taxa named by Frank Glaw Taxa named by Miguel Vences