Argentinian snakes

9
Micrurus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Elaps lemniscatus Linnaeus,1758. Systema Naturae, 10:. 224.
Micrurus lemniscatus Beebe, 1919. Zoologica, 2: 216.
Type locality: Asia. Restricted (Schmidt & Walker, 1943) to Belém, Pará, Brazil, however this correction is
not valid according to Roze (1967).
Distribution: Misiones and northern Corrientes (da Silva & da Silva, 1996; Gould et al., 1996). Paranaense
province and transitional areas with Chaqueña province (Campos district). Inhabits Amazon hillsides from
the Andes of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, through the Amazonia and Orinoquia of Colombia, south and east
of Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guyanas, and the whole Amazon River basin to the states of Paraná and Mato
Grosso do Sul and northeast Brazil (Campbell & Lamar, 1989; Silva, 1996).
Comments: Campbell & Lamar (1989) stated that the variation in this species, with four recognized
subspecies, "is poorly understood and relationships among the races can be expected to change upon
thorough analysis". Da Silva & da Silva (1996) and Gould et al. (1996), mentioned that the Argentinian
specimens have the characteristics of Micrurus lemniscatus carvalhoi (Roze, 1967), which is the most austral
race recognized. In that few specimens from Argentina are known and keeping in mind the comments of
Campbell & Lamar, we prefer to list this taxon at specific level. This species has been reported by Serié
(1921) without a precise locality. Serié (1936) gave a distribution for this species which actually corresponds
to M. pyrrhocryptus.
Micrurus pyrrhocryptus (Cope 1862)
Elaps pyrrhocryptus Cope, 1862. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1862: 347.
Elaps simonsii Boulenger, 1902. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) 9: 338.
Micrurus lemniscatus Serié, 1936. Inst. Mus. Univ. La Plata. Obra Cincuentenario: 53.
Micrurus frontalis pyrrhocryptus Shreve, 1953. Breviora 16: 5.
Micrurus tricolor Hoge, 1956. Mem. Inst. Butantan 27: 67.
Micrurus frontalis pyrrhocryptus Peters & Orejas Miranda, 1970. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 297 (1): 209.
Micrurus pyrrhocryptus Scrocchi, 1990. Boll. Mus. reg. Sci. nat. Torino 8 (2): 358.
Type locality: Río Bermejo, Argentina.
Distribution: Catamarca, Córdoba, Chaco, Chubut, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza,
Neuquén, Río Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán (Scrocchi, 1990;
Tiranti & Avila, 1997; Giraudo & Quaini, 1997). Also in south and central Bolivia and Paraguay to Mato
Grosso do Sul in Brazil (Campbell & Lamar, 1989).
Family Colubridae
Apostolepis Cope, 1862
Apostolepis Cope, 1862. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1861: 524.
Rhynchonyx Peters, 1869. Monats. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1869: 437.
Type species: Elapomorphus flavotorquatus Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854. By subsequent designation.
Apostolepis assimilis (Reinhardt, 1861)
Elapomorphus assimilis Reinhardt, 1861. Vid. Meddel. Naturh. For. Kjobenhavn l860: 235. Figs.l-5.
Apostolepis assimilis Boulenger, 1896. Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus. 3: 234.
Type locality: Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Distribution: Chaco and/or Formosa (see Comments). Also Paraguay (Giraudo, 1997) and central and
southeastern Brazil (Ferrarezzi, 1993 a). Chaqueña province (Oriental district) and Paranaense province (a
record from Paraguay near Misiones, Giraudo, 1997).
Comments: Serié (1915) mentioned two A. assimilis from “Chaco” without any other data. Only one
specimen (MACN 36676) was available to us. Since in Serié´s time “Chaco” designated a wide area that
included the present provinces of Formosa and Chaco, it is impossible to find the exact locality. There have
been no new records of the species in Argentina (Giraudo & Scrocchi, 1998).
Several species in this genus are known only from their name-bearing types, and, of the others, there are
generally few specimens in collections. This is probably due to their small size and fossorial habits, and