Meeting Abstract
P2.100 Tuesday, Jan. 5 Resolving the relationship among Lamprophis lineatus populations from the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe ARELLANO, L*; DREWES, RC; University of California- Santa Barbara, College of Creative Studies; California Academy of Sciences arellano01@umail.ucsb.edu
The lined house snake (Lamprophis lineatus Duméril, Birbon, and Duméril, 1854) is common in western Africa, including the islands São Tomé and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea. The populations of L. lineatus on São Tomé and Príncipe have always been considered the same species. However, differences in aspect lead us to hypothesize that the form on Príncipe and the one on São Tomé actually represent separate species and demand further investigation. Morphological measurements (i.e scale counts) do not reveal any significant differences between the two forms. However, coloration and pattern are clearly different. Cytochrome B analysis appears to support our hypothesis and indeed each island population clades separately. Future work with a nuclear gene and analysis of tissues from mainland specimens may further clarify the relationship among the L. lineatus populations of São Tomé and Príncipe.
