( ) Coral snakes (Micrurus) are a diverse group of Neotropical squamates. Similarities in morphology and coloration can make identification difficult, especially in areas of species sympatry. Species with triad-type coloration, approximately 30% of all Micrurus species, are among the most difficult to identify. Micrurus ibiboboca Merrem, 1820 is an east Brazilian species with triad-type colorat...

The uplift and final connection of the Central American land bridge is considered the major event that allowed biotic exchange between vertebrate lineages of northern and southern origin in the New World. However, given the complex tectonics that shaped Middle America, there is still substantial controversy over details of this geographical reconnection, and its role in determining biogeographi...

The subfamily Crotalinae (pitvipers) contains over 190 species of venomous snakes distributed in both the Old and New World. We incorporated an extensive sampling of taxa (including 28 of 29 genera), and sequences of four mitochondrial gene fragments (2.3kb) per individual, to estimate the phylogeny of pitvipers based on maximum parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic methods. Our Bayesian analyses...