Shaw's dark ground snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Erythrolamprus
Species:
E. melanotus
Binomial name
Erythrolamprus melanotus
(Shaw, 1802)[2]
Subspecies
  • L. m. melanotus
    (Shaw, 1802)
  • L. m. lamari
    Dixon & Michaud, 1992
  • L. m. nesos
    Dixon & Michaud, 1992
Synonyms[3]
  • Coluber melanotus Shaw, 1802
  • Liophis melanotus (Shaw, 1802)
  • Dromicus melanotus (Shaw, 1802)
  • Leimadophis melanotus (Shaw, 1802)
  • Lemiadophis [sic] melanotus (Shaw, 1802)
  • Coluber (Natrix) raninus Merrem, 1820
  • Coluber vittatus Hallowell, 1845
  • Liophis melanonotus Cope, 1860 (missp.)
  • Aporophis crucifer Ahl, 1925

Shaw's dark ground snake (Erythrolamprus melanotus), also known commonly as Shaw's black-backed snake, and in Spanish as candelilla, guarda caminos, and reinita cazadora, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to northern South America.[4]

Etymology

The English common names for E. melanotus refer to English biologist George Kearsley Shaw, who described and named this snake as a species new to science in 1802.[5]

Description

E. melanotus grows up to a total length (including tail) of 43 cm (17 in).[4]

Dorsally, it has a light yellow or pinkish color, with a wide, dark vertebral stripe,[4] which is bordered on each side by a thin whitish stripe, followed by a thin dark stripe. The top of the head is olive, and there is a dark stripe passing through the eye. The upper labials and the venter (underside) of the snake are whitish.[6]

The dorsal scales are smooth, with apical pits, and are arranged in 17 rows at midbody.[6]

Behavior and diet

E. melanotus actively forages during the day for food, which may include fish, amphibians, and lizards.[4]

Reproduction

E. melanotus is oviparous.[3]

Geographic range

The geographic distribution of E. melanotus includes Colombia, Venezuela,[7] and Trinidad and Tobago. It is probably extirpated from Grenada.[4]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of E. melanotus are freshwater wetlands, forest, and savanna, at altitudes up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Schargel, W.; Böhm, M.; Richman, N.; Rivas, G.; Murphy, J. (2016). "Erythrolamprus melanotus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T174098A50953143. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T174098A50953143.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  3. 1 2 Species Erythrolamprus melanotus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. p. 108. ISBN 0-333-69141-5. (Liophis melanotus).
  5. ↑ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Liophis melanotus, p. 241).
  6. 1 2 Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) xi + 382 pp. + Plates I- XX. (Liophis melanotus, p. 134).
  7. ↑ Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Dromicus melanotus, p. 95).

Further reading

  • Dixon JR, Michaud EJ (1992). "Shaw's black-backed snake (Liophis melanotus) (Serpentes: Colubridae) of Northern South America". Journal of Herpetology 26 (3): 250–259. (Liophis melanotus lamari and Liophis melanotus nesos, new subspecies).
  • Grazziotin FG, Zaher H, Murphy RW, Scrocchi G, Benavides MA, Zhang Y-P, Bonatto SL (2012). "Molecular phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal". Cladistics 28 (5): 437–459. (Erythrolamprus melanotus, new combination, p. 457).
  • Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-List of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Dromicus melanotus, p. 182).
  • Shaw G (1802). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History, Vol. III., Part II. London: G. Kearsley. vii + pp. 313–615. (Coluber melanotus, new species, p. 534).
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