GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF Ninia hudsoni (SERPENTES: DIPSADIDAE) WITH NEW OCCURRENCE RECORDS

Abstract

Ninia hudsoni is a small neotropical snake with cryptic habits. Its distribution range is currently based on scattered literature records from Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana and Peru. Here we present an updated distribution map of N. hudsoni with two new records from southern Amazon and six unpublished records found in herpetological collections. We also implemented an ecological niche modeling (ENM) to predict climatically suitable areas for the occurrence of N. hudsoni. Both historical records and ENM support that N. hudsoni is restricted to the north, south and west edges of the Amazon. Southern Venezuela and northwestern Colombia seem to be the major gaps that lack occurrence records of N. hudsoni