title: Morphological similarities between Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter, 1923 and A. miringoera Vanzolini, 1971 (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae): phylogenetic relatedness or morphological convergence?
abstract: To date, 22 species of amphisbaenids have been recorded at Brazilian Amazon (Ribeiro et al. 2008), six of them are small and have two pre-cloacal pores (Hoogmoed & Ávila-Pires 1991; Teixeira Jr. et al. 2014). Most of these species have narrow distributions, and its biology and phylogenetic relationships are poorly understood (Hoogmoed & Ávila-Pires 1991). Amphisbaena mitchelli Procter, 1923 and A. miringoera Vanzolini, 1971 share several morphological similarities that could reflect phylogenetic relatedness (Vanzolini 1971). Both have two pre-cloacal pores and a similar pattern of head scutelation, but whereas the first has 193-220 and 26-29 body and tail annuli, respectively, the latter has 250-264 and 22-24 (Vanzolini 1971).
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Diversidade Biológica e Conservação nos Trópicos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970, Maceió, AL, Brazil. Setor de Zoologia, Museu de História Natural, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Av. Aristeu de Andrade, 57051-090, Maceió, AL, Brasil; Email: joao.paulo.felix@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: João Paulo Felix Augusto De
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508090, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Francisco Dal
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Vechio
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508090, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Mauro Jr
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508090, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Miguel Trefaut
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Setor de Zoologia, Museu de História Natural, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Av. Aristeu de Andrade, 57051-090, Maceió, AL, Brasil Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970, Maceió, AL, Brazil; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Tamí
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mott
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D001938:Brazil; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D009929:Organ Size; D010802:Phylogeny