Presence of gular and parietal pits in Atretium schistosum (Serpentes, Colubridae), a singular trait not exclusive to psammophine snakes.
The sporadic occurrence of localised pits on parietal plates was recently discovered in different colubrid genera of the subfamily Psammophiinae; these were considered to play a role in sensory perception. In the present study, we describe the presence of similar structures in Atretium schistosum, another colubrid snake reportedly not belonging to the Psammophiinae. As this species is suspected of being phylogenetically distantly related to psammophine snakes, some hypotheses are provided to explain (1) the putative function of these pits, (2) their sporadic occurrence, and (3) to suggest when they may have evolved in the colubroid snake clade.
Adaptation et évolution des systèmes ostéomusculaires, FRE 2696, département d'écologie et de gestion de la biodiversité, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, case courrier no 55, 55, rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France. amiral@mnhn.fr
Aurélien
A
Miralles
Ivan
I
Ineich
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017812:Colubridae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011187:Posture; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D013045:Species Specificity