Flag for Taxon: Coffee Snakes (Genus Ninia)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rgundy | Coffee Snakes (Genus Ninia) |
there are two new species in this genus |
Dec. 8, 2023 15:48:38 +0000 | Not Resolved |
Comments
Hi @rgundy,
iNaturalist references the Reptile-database (RD) for reptile taxonomy, these two Ninia species have not yet been accepted there yet. Please submit the paper to them for consideration via the contact page or email info@reptile-database.org
@lwnrngr Thanks for letting me know how that works. I sent them an email to see what they say.
@lwnrngr The Reptile Database got back to me and said the new species will be added in their late January update.
Both species added by import from RD
Unclear if a split is required, or possible. In the paper linked above there is no sympatry between the two new species, but is some overlap in range between N. teresitae and N. guytudori. The authors also state "three species of Ninia in western Ecuador" suggesting all N. atrata observations in Ecuador should be N. teresitae? This would need to be resolved first.
I suppose there are no convenient political boundaries to use for separation. That is correct, that N. atrata is no longer considered an Ecuadorian species. Here's an excerpt from the Discussion section: "This work marks the second attempt elucidating the identities of Ecuadorian snakes labeled as Ninia atrata. It provides evidence of the existence of three species of Ninia in western Ecuador, none of which can be allocated to N. atrata sensu stricto based on molecular evidence and
color pattern characteristics. Thus, we remove the latter species from the list of Ecuadorian herpetofauna."
So how does this move forward for iNaturalist? Will the observations all have to be individually given new identification suggestions to be properly labeled since there does not appear to be a clear boundary for an easy taxonomy swap?
I've added ranges to N. teresitae, N. guytudori & N. schmidti. The range for N. atrata has also been updated with the section in Ecuador removed.
This split for N. atrata would push 18 obs to genus for manual reidentification as N. teresitae or N. schmidti
A spilt for N. teresitae in Ecuador has no significant benefit, no observations will be transferred to the new species. The small cluster of 7 observations north west of Quito would be pushed back to genus for for manual reidentification as N. teresitae or N. schmidti. I do not think this split should be committed, but is a useful visualization. If it is committed Colombia will need to added to the atlas for N. teresitae after committing the split on N. atrata linked above
Two new species have been described from Ninia: N. guytudori (sp. nov.) and N. schmidti (comb. nov.). The paper is here: https://evolsyst.pensoft.net/article/112476/element/5/33/