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Wednesday, August 7th, 2019
| Time | Event | ||||
| 3:28a | [Herpetology • 2019] Helicops boitata • Chance, Luck and A Fortunate Finding: A New Species of Watersnake of the Genus Helicops Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes: Xenodontinae), from the Brazilian Pantanal Wetlands
Abstract We describe a new watersnake of the genus Helicops based on a single specimen found in the northern limit of the Brazilian Pantanal. Immediately after collection, the unique features of color pattern and head proportions prevented us to attribute this specimen to any other congener. Further comparisons revealed that the combination of entire nasal scales, a distinctively acuminate snout, high dorsal and supralabial counts, as well as a dorsal pattern with chain-like spot rows and a venter with vivid and peculiar orange markings confirmed that the specimen represented a new species. Molecular data supported our morphological conclusion recovering the new species deeply nested within Helicops terminals, sister to a clade composed by H. carinicaudus and H. nentur. Our discovery represents a rare instance of a snake species restricted to the Brazilian Pantanal, but we refrain from considering it a Pantanal endemic until further records allow more considerations on distributional patterns. Keywords: Reptilia, Hydropsini; taxonomy; color pattern; molecular phylogeny; distributional patterns  Antonio Moraes-da-Silva, Renata Cecília Amaro, Pedro M. Sales Nunes, Christine Strüssmann, Mauro Jr Teixeira, Albedi Jr. Andrade, Vinícius Sudré, Renato Recoder, Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues and Felipe Franco Curcio. 2019. Chance, Luck and A Fortunate Finding: A New Species of Watersnake of the Genus Helicops Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes: Xenodontinae), from the Brazilian Pantanal Wetlands. Zootaxa. 4651(3); 445–470. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4651.3.3  | ||||
| 7:45a | [PaleoOrnithology • 2019] Heracles inexpectatus • A Giant Parrot (Psittaciformes) from the Early Miocene of New Zealand
Abstract Insular avifaunas have repeatedly spawned evolutionary novelties in the form of unusually large, often flightless species. We report fossils from the Early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand that attests to the former existence of a giant psittaciform, which is described as a new genus and species. The fossils are two incomplete tibiotarsi from a bird with an estimated mass of 7 kg, double that of the heaviest known parrot, the kakapo Strigops habroptila. These psittaciform fossils show that parrots join the growing group of avian taxa prone to giantism in insular species, currently restricted to palaeognaths, anatids, sylviornithids, columbids, aptornithids, ciconiids, tytonids, falconids and accipitrids. Keywords: Psittaciformes, St Bathans Fauna, insular giantism, fossil bird, taxonomy
Systematic palaeontology Aves Linnaeus, 1758 Psittaciformes Wagler, 1830 ?Strigopoidea Bonaparte, 1849 Heracles inexpectatus gen. et sp. nov. Etymology: The nestorid Nelepsittacus from the St Bathans Fauna was named after Neleus. This much larger psittaciform is named after the Greek Heracles, who in Latin was known as Hercules, and who killed Neleus and his sons, except for Nestor. Genus gender masculine. The specific epithet denotes the unexpected nature of this find. Trevor H. Worthy, Suzanne J. Hand, Michael Archer, R. Paul Scofield and Vanesa L. De Pietri. 2019. Evidence for A Giant Parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand. Biology Letters. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0467 A whopping 'squawkzilla': Meet 'Hercules'—the giant parrot that dwarfs its modern cousins phys.org/news/2019-08-whopping-squawkzil  |
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