Dataset Information

Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes.

ABSTRACT: Motivation:We generated a novel database of Neotropical snakes (one of the world's richest herpetofauna) combining the most comprehensive, manually compiled distribution dataset with publicly available data. We assess, for the first time, the diversity patterns for all Neotropical snakes as well as sampling density and sampling biases. Main types of variables contained:We compiled three databases of species occurrences: a dataset downloaded from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a verified dataset built through taxonomic work and specialized literature, and a combined dataset comprising a cleaned version of the GBIF dataset merged with the verified dataset. Spatial location and grain:Neotropics, Behrmann projection equivalent to 1° × 1°. Time period:Specimens housed in museums during the last 150 years. Major taxa studied:Squamata: Serpentes. Software format:Geographical information system (GIS). Results:The combined dataset provides the most comprehensive distribution database for Neotropical snakes to date. It contains 147,515 records for 886 species across 12 families, representing 74% of all species of snakes, spanning 27 countries in the Americas. Species richness and phylogenetic diversity show overall similar patterns. Amazonia is the least sampled Neotropical region, whereas most well-sampled sites are located near large universities and scientific collections. We provide a list and updated maps of geographical distribution of all snake species surveyed. Main conclusions:The biodiversity metrics of Neotropical snakes reflect patterns previously documented for other vertebrates, suggesting that similar factors may determine the diversity of both ectothermic and endothermic animals. We suggest conservation strategies for high-diversity areas and sampling efforts be directed towards Amazonia and poorly known species.

SUBMITTER: Guedes TB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5765514 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes.

Guedes Thaís B TB Sawaya Ricardo J RJ Zizka Alexander A Laffan Shawn S Faurby Søren S Pyron R Alexander RA Bérnils Renato S RS Jansen Martin M Passos Paulo P Prudente Ana L C ALC Cisneros-Heredia Diego F DF Braz Henrique B HB Nogueira Cristiano de C CC Antonelli Alexandre A Meiri Shai S

Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology 20171123 1

<h4>Motivation</h4>We generated a novel database of Neotropical snakes (one of the world's richest herpetofauna) combining the most comprehensive, manually compiled distribution dataset with publicly available data. We assess, for the first time, the diversity patterns for all Neotropical snakes as well as sampling density and sampling biases.<h4>Main types of variables contained</h4>We compiled three databases of species occurrences: a dataset downloaded from the Global Biodiversity Information ...[more]

PMID: 29398972

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Project description:BackgroundEfficient venom delivery systems are known to occur only in varanoid lizards and advanced colubroidean snakes among squamate reptiles. Although components of these venomous systems might have been present in a common ancestor, the two lineages independently evolved strikingly different venom gland systems. In snakes, venom is produced exclusively by serous glands in the upper jaw. Within the colubroidean radiation, lower jaw seromucous infralabial glands are known only in two distinct lineages-the basal pareatids and the more advanced Neotropical dipsadines known as "goo-eating snakes". Goo-eaters are a highly diversified, ecologically specialized clade that feeds exclusively on invertebrates (e.g., gastropod molluscs and annelids). Their evolutionary success has been attributed to their peculiar feeding strategies, which remain surprisingly poorly understood. More specifically, it has long been thought that the more derived Dipsadini genera Dipsas and Sibynomorphus use glandular toxins secreted by their infralabial glands to extract snails from their shells.ResultsHere, we report the presence in the tribe Dipsadini of a novel lower jaw protein-secreting delivery system effected by a gland that is not functionally related to adjacent teeth, but rather opens loosely on the oral epithelium near the tip of the mandible, suggesting that its secretion is not injected into the prey as a form of envenomation but rather helps control the mucus and assists in the ingestion of their highly viscous preys. A similar protein-secreting system is also present in the goo-eating genus Geophis and may share the same adaptive purpose as that hypothesized for Dipsadini. Our phylogenetic hypothesis suggests that the acquisition of a seromucous infralabial gland represents a uniquely derived trait of the goo-eating clade that evolved independently twice within the group as a functionally complex protein-secreting delivery system.ConclusionsThe acquisition by snail-eating snakes of such a complex protein-secreting system suggests that the secretion from the hypertrophied infralabial glands of goo-eating snakes may have a fundamental role in mucus control and prey transport rather than envenomation of prey. Evolution of a functional secretory system that combines a solution for mucus control and transport of viscous preys is here thought to underlie the successful radiation of goo-eating snakes.

Dataset Information

Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes.

Publications

Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes.

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