Atractus albuquerquei Cunha & Nascimento , 1983 ( Serpentes , Dipsadidae ) : first record for the state of Minas Gerais , southeastern Brazil

We present the first record of Atractus albuquerquei for the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This record extends the distribution of the species 500 km east of Emas National Park and 570 km south of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, both in the state of Goiás.

The genus Atractus comprises a semi-fossorial snake group with more than 130 species and wide geographic distribution in America, from the eastern region of the Isthmus of Panama to northern Argentina (Wallach et al. 2014).Currently there are 36 species of this genus known to Brazil (Costa & Bérnils 2015), 21 of which occur in the Amazon Rainforest and only five in the Cerrado biome (Wallach et al. 2014).Atractus albuquerquei occurs in both biomes and is distributed mostly within the Amazon Rainforest, with punctual records in the Cerrado.The species occurrence is currently known for the Brazilian states of Acre, Amazonas, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará and Rondônia (Zaher et al. 2005;Silva Jr. et al. 2009;Silva et al. 2010;Souza et al. 2011;Maschio et al. 2012;Tavares et al. 2012).Here we provide the first record of this species for the state of Minas Gerais and an update of its distribution map.
During field work in 19 November 2015, at Nova Monte Carmelo Farm, municipality of Estrela do Sul, state of Minas Gerais (18°44ʹ48ʺ S, 047°52ʹ09ʺ W, altitude 943 m), one male individual of A. albuquerquei was captured in a pitfall trap.This study was done under research permit SISBIO-46085-2.The specimen (Figures 1, 2) was collected, fixed in 10% formalin, had its hemipenis inverted and then  Atractus albuquerquei is characterized by 15 rows of dorsal scales and 170-200 ventral plates; six supralabials (second and third contacting loreals and third and fourth in contact with the eye orbit; nasal plate in contact with first and second supralabials and split above and below the naris; dorsum uniform brown and venter uniform cream colored (Zaher et al. 2005).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Male of Atractus albuquerquei collected in Nova Monte Carmelo Farm, Estrela do Sul, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Head detail of Atractus albuquerquei collected in Nova Monte Carmelo Farm, Estrela do Sul, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Collection site of Atractus albuquerquei in Nova Monte Carmelo Farm, Estrela do Sul, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.