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On the maxillary dentition of the Western whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus (Lacépède 1789): heterodonty is not opisthoglyphy

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  • Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola,
  • Massimo Delfino
Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola
IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital
Massimo Delfino
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-16673

Published 2024-12-27

Keywords

  • Aglyphous,
  • Colubrid,
  • Non-front-fanged snakes,
  • Opisthoglyphous,
  • Proteroglyphous,
  • rear-fanged,
  • Solenoglyphous,
  • Tooth morphology
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Di Nicola, M. R., & Delfino, M. (2024). On the maxillary dentition of the Western whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus (Lacépède 1789): heterodonty is not opisthoglyphy. Acta Herpetologica. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-16673

Copyright (c) 2024 Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola, Massimo Delfino

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The Western whip snake (Hierophis viridiflavus) is a colubroid snake typically considered aglyphous and non-venomous, although this is currently a subject of debate. Indeed, the maxillary dentition of this species has recently been described as opisthoglyphous due to the presence of enlarged rear maxillary teeth, reportedly characterised by prominent grooves and ridges. Aiming to test the actual presence of these structures and provide a clearer characterisation of the species' maxillary dentition, we analysed 17 dry-prepared and disarticulated H. viridiflavus specimens using both scanning electron and traditional microscopy. The imaging confirmed the presence of posterior, enlarged maxillary teeth displaying a distal carina, highlighted by shallow longitudinal inflections on the postero-labial and postero-lingual surfaces of the tooth. Nonetheless, the analysis revealed the consistent absence of the meso-labially placed groove typical of opisthoglyphous taxa. Based on the results of our study, the maxillary dentition of the Western whip snake is heterodont, specifically opisthomegadont, and is confirmed to be aglyphous.

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