S) and quantity of postocular scales (1 vs. two in R. dayanae sp. nov.). The best-studied species of the genus, R. melanocephalus, was found to become paraphyletic (Fig. 2A). This species concealed an unidentified and PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20009077 morphologically related arid species, described herein as R. dayanae sp. nov. This addition of a new species of snake towards the fauna of Israel is surprising thinking of the lengthy history of herpetological guides in the country (e.g., Haas, 1951; Barash Hoofien, 1956; Arbel, 1984; Werner, 1988; Werner, 1995; Bouskila Amitai, 2001; Bar Haimovitch, 2013; Werner, 2016). This somewhat recentTamar et al. (2016), PeerJ, DOI ten.7717/peerj.24/discovery could stem from the reclusive nature of these snakes, and due to the fact a lot more specimens from southern Israel have already been collected only lately. Subsequently, you will discover a mere six specimens identified inside the newly-discovered species in natural history collections, only four of which could possibly be effectively made use of for genetic analyses (Tables S1 and S3). This new species from the Negev Mountain area in Israel is morphologically and genetically distinct, with a restricted distribution from around the town of Mitzpe Ramon westward towards the Egyptian border (Fig. 1). The specimens examined within this study reveal R. dayanae sp. nov. and R. melanocephalus to be allopatric species, separated by a distance of 15 km (in between specimens HUJ.R22054, R22055 in locations six in Fig. 1 and HUJ.R21704, place five). Even so, as a result of low quantity of specimens from the region and of samples out there, this assessment could alter with all the accumulation of far more information. The molecular outcomes reveal that R. dayanae sp. nov. is phylogenetically closely connected to R. arabicus from Oman as opposed to to the geographically adjacent populations of R. melanocephalus in Israel northwards to Turkey. This connection is surprising, because the two former species are situated at a distance of about two,500 km from a single one more (Fig. 1), whereas the closest collecting localities of R. melanocephalus and R. dayanae are just 15 km apart. As Rhynchocalamus snakes are uncommon and observations of them are scarce (specimens weren’t observed in many surveys in Arabia; e.g., Gasperetti, 1988; Sch ti Gasperetti, 1994; Sch ti Desvoignes, 1999; Van der Kooij, 2001; Gardner, 2013), it truly is plausible that a connection exist among populations, especially in desert habitats (as recommended in Gasperetti, 1988). Specimens from the Sinai Peninsula (Table S3; HUJ.R8856; HUJ.R8885; TAU.R12494; Baha El Din, 2006) present a morphological combination of meristic characters equivalent both to R. dayanae sp. nov. (eight reduced labials, 67 ; four reduce labials in speak to with all the anterior inframaxillars, one hundred ) and to R. melanocephalus (a single post-ocular scale; two posttemporal scales; 13 dorsal and temporal scales surrounding the parietals). The Sinai specimens’ colouration is constant with that of R. melanocephalus (gular scales plus the upper and lower labials white). At this point, because of the low sample size, we cannot figure out the taxonomic classification from the Sinai specimens and as a result can’t reject the presence of R. dayanae sp. nov. inside the Sinai Peninsula. Because these specimens were kept for decades in formalin, the possibility of a genetic study was not achievable. The distribution of R. melanocephalus in Israel just isn’t nicely defined, as it is mostly identified from the Ecotone region in the Antibiotic SF-837 price northern Negev and northwards, and with small marginal population inside the Negev deser.