Vol. 14 No. 2 (2019)
Short Note

Morphological variation of the newly confirmed population of the Javelin sand boa, Eryx jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes, Erycidae) in Sicily, Italy

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  • Francesco P. Faraone,
  • Salvatore Russotto,
  • Salvatore A. Barra,
  • Roberto Chiara,
  • Gabriele Giacalone,
  • Mario Lo Valvo
Francesco P. Faraone
Viale Regione Siciliana S.E., 532, 90129 Palermo, Italy
Salvatore Russotto
Contrada Grassura Mollaka Faia, s.n., 92027 Licata (AG), Italy
Salvatore A. Barra
Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi, 18, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Roberto Chiara
Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi, 18, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Gabriele Giacalone
Cooperativa Silene, Via D’Ondes Reggio, 8/a, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Mario Lo Valvo
Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi, 18, 90123 Palermo, Italy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7752

Published 2019-12-27

Keywords

  • Eryx jaculus,
  • Serpentes,
  • morphological variation,
  • folidosis

How to Cite

Faraone, F. P., Russotto, S., Barra, S. A., Chiara, R., Giacalone, G., & Lo Valvo, M. (2019). Morphological variation of the newly confirmed population of the Javelin sand boa, Eryx jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes, Erycidae) in Sicily, Italy. Acta Herpetologica, 14(2), 135–139. https://doi.org/10.13128/a_h-7752
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Abstract

The presence of the Javelin sand boa in Sicily has recently been confirmed. Here the morphological characters and sexual dimorphism of the Sicilian population of Eryx jaculus are presented. Seven meristic and six metric characters in 96 specimens from Sicily were examined. The results show that tail length, snout-vent length, the distance between nostrils and the number of ventral and subcaudal scales are different between sexes. The characters found in the Sicilian population of the Javelin sand boa resemble those of the African population (ssp. jaculus) rather than the Eurasian population (ssp. turcicus), but biomolecular studies are necessary to understand its taxonomic identity.

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