title: A new species of Rhadinella (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero, Mexico.
abstract: We describe a new species of Rhadinella from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero, Mexico, a region where the genus was previously unknown. This diminutive species is a member of a group of snakes previously allocated in the Rhadinaea godmani group, and more recently transferred to the genus Rhadinella. These snakes may have conspicuous dark longitudinal striping on a pale brown to orange background or may have dark brown to blackish dorsal ground coloration, which mostly or completely obfuscates a pattern of longitudinal striping. The new species is mostly dark with barely discernible slightly paler or darker striping (depending on how striping is interpreted). The closest relative of the new species, on the basis of morphological similarities and biogeography, appears to be Rhadinella donaji which occurs to the east in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca about 275 km from the type-locality of the new species.
authors.affiliation: Colección Herpetológica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas (ENCB), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CP 11340, México, D.F. Museo de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-399, CP 04510, México, D.F.; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Campillo
authors.affiliation: Colección Herpetológica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas (ENCB), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CP 11340, México, D.F.; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Luis Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Dávila-Galavíz
authors.affiliation: Museo de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-399, CP 04510, México, D.F.; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Flores-Villela
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, 76019, Texas, U.S.A.; Email: Campbell@uta.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D017812:Colubridae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D009929:Organ Size