New York City : The American Museum of Natural History
Abstract
14 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 14)."The genus Leptodrymus erected by Amaral in 1927 should be reinstated for the species pulcherrimus, since its superficial resemblances to snakes in Salvadora are not accompanied by similarities in penial, premaxillary, and scale characters. Various peculiarities serve to separate Leptodrymus from species in other genera, particularly the symmetrical arrangement of spines on the hemipenis, two of them greatly enlarged with the sulcus spermaticus in the middle. Moreover, the presence of three postoculars in pulcherrimus serves to differentiate the species from the allied genera. 2. The results of a brief survey of premaxillary characters point to their usefulness in systematic work. The shape of the premaxilla characterizes the snakes in the genus Salvadora, and use of the bone may be of aid in delineating other subfamily, generic, or infrageneric groups. Parallel modifications of the premaxilla in some burrowing snakes are pointed out, although it is plain that these do not seriously obscure the inferences with respect to relationships or phylogenies that may be drawn from comparisons of premaxillae"--P. 13
