Short CommunicationFirst molecular evidence for the phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic snake genus Brachyorrhos (Serpentes: Caenophidia)

Brachyorrhos Schlegel, 1826a is a terrestrial-fossorial snake genus endemic to eastern Indonesia that has been assigned to six different families and subfamilies within Colubroidea (advanced snakes) over the past ∼200 years. Here we report the first molecular sequences for Brachyorrhos and use them to test the position of the genus within snake phylogeny. Our Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood analyses of three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene strongly resolve Brachyorrhos within the rear-fanged semiaquatic Homalopsidae (Colubroidea), as the sister taxon to all other genera and sampled species.

Graphical abstractDownload full-size imageHighlights► Brachyorrhos Schlegel, 1826 are fossorial-terrestrial, worm-eating snake's endemic to eastern Indonesia. ► Three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene resolve Brachyorrhos within the rear fanged semiaquatic Homalopsidae. ► Brachyorrhos are fossorial-terrestrial snakes while other members of the Homalopsidae are semi-aquatic.