REDESCRIPTION OF AMAZONIAN AMPHISBAENIAN Leposternon polystegum (DÚMERIL, 1851) (SQUAMATA, AMPHISBAENIA) AND COMPARISON WITH RELATED SPECIES
Anfisbenian; taxonomy; Amazon; diagnosis.
Leposternon polystegum represents one of eleven species in the genus Leposternon, which has been indicated with high variability in some valid species and possible new taxa. Diagnoses and characterizations of most species in the genus have been structured based on external morphology, but not all species have well-defined diagnostic characters or identified intraspecific variability. Based on this, the present study will analyze specimens of L. polystegum and related species from scientific collections in order to complement information on morphological data, diagnosis, identification, and geographic distribution. In addition to the data from L. polystegum, data from phylogenetically related congeneric species will be compared. Eleven meristic and 39 morphometric characters will be analyzed in order to analyze and compare the data obtained through descriptive and multivariate statistics (Principal Component Discriminant Analysis - PDA). Additionally, a gazetteer and an updated distribution map will be made available. In addition to the data from L. polystegum, data from phylogenetically related congeneric species will be compared. Eleven meristic and 39 morphometric characters will be analyzed and compared using descriptive and multivariate statistics (Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components – DAPC). Additionally, a gazetteer and an updated distribution map will be made available.