Discovery of the second specimen of Toxicocalamus ernstmayri O’Shea et al., 2015 (Squamata: Elapidae), the first from Papua Province, Indonesia,with comments on the type locality of T. grandis (Boulenger, 1914)

Abstract

Examination of historical specimens from western New Guinea in the Zoologische Staatssammlung Munich, Germany, led to the discovery of only the second specimen of the rarely encountered Star Mountains Worm-eating Snake, Toxicocalamus ernstmayri. This specimen is the first record of the species from the Indonesian part of New Guinea, extending its known range northwestward by 150 km. We also question the long-accepted collection locality for another poorly known species, T. grandis and document that it was most likely collected further up the Setekwa River at a higher elevation, in habitat more conducive to the ecology of a terrestrial to semi-fossorial genus and in keeping with the known mainland distribution of Toxicocalamus.