Adding missing vines to the tree: multilocus phylogeny of New World vine snakes (Serpentes: Colubridae: <i>Oxybelis</i>), with description of a new species

Neotropical vine snakes (<i>Oxybelis</i>) have a wide distribution range from southern United States to southeastern Brazil. Notably, the widespread brown vine snake <i>O. aeneus</i> was recently split into eight species, but major geographical areas such as the South American Pacific lowlands remained unsampled. In this paper, we present the largest molecular phylogeny of <i>Oxybelis</i> to date using six mitochondrial and nuclear genes and 10 of the 11 currently recognised species of <i>Oxybelis</i>. Our analyses include the first South American samples from west of the Andes, which we describe as a new species based on molecular and morphological evidence. The new species is morphologically most similar to <i>O. acuminatus, O. aeneus</i>, and <i>O. inkaterra</i>. Although the new species is genetically distinctive and divergent from its congeners, its phylogenetic placement received low support. Our results also suggest that a sample from Escudo de Veraguas Island in Panama represents an undescribed species of <i>Oxybelis</i>. Finally, we clarify the phylogenetic position of <i>O. aeneus</i> sensu stricto. https:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CC4E3741-D9DF-4F6C-8D0F-9BD20CB124E5