Naja annulifera

Broadley & Wüster (2004) analysed patterns of variation in morphology and mitochondrial DNA in Naja annulifera. Both mtDNA and multivariate morphometric analyses show that the conventional subspecies N. a. annulifera and N. a. anchietae represent clearly distinct evolutionary linegaes, wth only very occasional hybrids where their ranges meet in extreme western Zimbabwe. Consequently, the authors elevated the western subspecies to the status of a full species, Naja anchietae.

• Broadley, D.G. & W. Wüster (2004) A review of the southern African ‘non-spitting’ cobras (Serpentes: Elapidae: Naja). African Journal of Herpetology 53:101-122.  pdf

Lavvin-Murcio and Dixon (2004) described a new species of coral snake related to Micrurus tener from the Sierra de Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas State, Mexico. The new species differs from M. tener (formerly M. fulvius tener) in lacking a yellow parietal band (the head is almost entirely black, except for some obscure oragne marking on the sides and underside), and in having a full tricolor banded pattrern on the tail (yellow and black only in M. tener). The only specimens originate from pine-oak forest areas at altitudes of  750-1000 m in the Sierra de Tamaulipas, an isolated mountain range in the eponymous northeastern Mexican state.

• Lavin-Murcio, P.A. & J.R. Dixon (2004) A new species of coral snake (Serpentes, Elapidae) from the Sierra de Tamaulipas, Mexico. Phyllomedusa 3(1 ):3-7.
  

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