Skull comparison between Eirenis collaris and Dolichophis jugularis (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Iran

Document Type : Research articles

Authors

Seyyed Saeed Hosseinian Yousefkhani ¹

Najmeh Sadeghi ²

Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani ³

Mahdi Rajabizadeh ⁴

¹ Department of Animal Science, School of Biology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran

² Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

³ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

⁴ Iranian Plateau Herpetology Research Group (IPHRG), Faculty of Science, Razi University, 6714967346 Kermanshah, Iran

10.22067/ijab.v10i2.34202

Abstract

Two species of the family Colubridae were compared based on cranial osteology. The specimens were from Kermanshah Province (2010–2012). We compared the skulls of the two species and distinguished their differences. According to our study, eight elements of the skull are clearly different between the two species. We speculate that these differences are related to different diets, prey size, or result from evolutionary processes that adapt these species to special conditions or competition with other sympatric species. Differences and characteristics of the above species help to facilitate their identification and evaluate phylogenetic studies in relation to skull morphology.

Keywords

Colubridae

Eirenis collaris

Dolichophis jugularis

comparative cranial osteology

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