Venom composition of the Iberian adder (Vipera seoanei) from northern Portugal reveals limited sex and size variation

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  Venom composition of the Iberian adder (Vipera seoanei) from northern Portugal reveals limited sex and size variation Abstract Snake venom is a complex and dynamic ecological trait, with high potential for intraspecific variation. In this study, the venom composition of the Iberian adder ( Vipera seoanei ) from the Peneda Mountains of northern Portugal was investigated to explore whether venom varies with body size and sex. Venom proteomes from six individuals representing juvenile, subadult, and adult males and females were characterised using LC–MS/MS, while individual variation was assessed from SDS–PAGE profiles of 18 snakes. LC–MS/MS identified 144 proteins, dominated by phospholipases A 2 (PLA 2 ), snake venom serine proteases (svSP), and C-type lectin-related proteins (CTL). Descriptive comparisons revealed contrasting individual profiles, particularly between the juvenile male, characterised by high svSP and svMP abundance, and the juvenile female, characterised by high ...

Exploring the evolutionary path of male genitalia in the genus Heterophrynus (Arachnida: Amblypygi) from the Colombian Andes: a new endemic species revealed

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Exploring the evolutionary path of male genitalia in the genus Heterophrynus (Arachnida: Amblypygi) from the Colombian Andes: a new endemic species revealed

Abstract
The genus Heterophrynus of the family Phrynidae, endemic to South America, presents a cryptic diversity previously reported in genetic population studies, especially in the group of species similar to H. batesii, which is distributed from the Brazilian Amazonia to the North of Colombia. Describing new species inside this group could be difficult due to the lack of diagnostic characters, however, the male genitalia presents a little studied group of characters that could be useful. We evaluate the variation in the male genital morphology of the group using SEM pictures, showing the differences in some structures between species from the Amazon and the Andean region, and for the first time, we present a time-calibrated phylogeny of the Colombian species based on COI. We describe a new species Heterophrynus nasa, based on the male and female genitalia morphology, which is also supported by analyses of genetic species delimitations. Variations on the Lobus Dorsalis, Laterialis, and the Processus Internus, show patterns in the Amazonian species that differ from the Andean and Caribbean species. According to the genetic analysis, the raising of the Andean Oriental Cordillera could have produced species differentiation dating from 27 to 7 mya, since the Oligocene to the Miocene. 
Daniel Chirivi Joya, Sebastián Vazquez-Palacios, Sebastián Cuadrado-Ríos, Exploring the evolutionary path of male genitalia in the genus Heterophrynus (Arachnida: Amblypygi) from the Colombian Andes: a new endemic species revealed, Acta Arachnologica, 2025, Volume 74, Issue 2, Pages 71-84, Released on J-STAGE December 11, 2025, Online ISSN 1880-7852, Print ISSN 0001-5202, https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.74.71, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/asjaa/74/2/74_71/_article/-char/en