New records and morphological variation of Rhadinaea marcellae Taylor, 1949 (Squamata, Colubridae) from Sierra Madre Oriental, México

Abstract

Rhadinaea marcellae Taylor, 1949 is known from only 12 specimens. Based on recent fieldwork and research in scientific collections and databases, we report 14 new records of R. marcellae, bringing the total number of verified occurrences up to 26, updating our understanding of this secretive species’ distribution in the tropical and cloud forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico. The new records come from the Mexican states of Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí and Veracruz. All the newly reported specimens are morphologically concordant with R. marcellae, but exhibit noteworthy variation.

Keywords

• Cloud forest
• colubrid
• morphology
• range extensio