Orangebelly Swamp Snake

Tretanorhinus nigroluteus Cope 1861

Tretanorhinus nigroluteus Cope, 1861 Morphology. Tretanorhinus nigroluteus is characterized by having 17–21 dorsal scale rows along the body, with two prefrontals in the cephalic scalation. The number of ventral scales ranges approximately from 133 to 148, while subcaudals vary from 63 to 80 in males and from 56 to 68 in females, indicating moderate sexual dimorphism. Dorsal coloration displays a distinctive pattern: in most adult individuals, a mid-dorsal line composed of alternating dark spots is present, with each spot occupying nearly the entire surface of a single scale (Dunn 1939; Fig. 9). Distribution. Type locality: Aspinwall, Panama, corrected by Peters and Orejas-Miranda (1970). This species has a wide distribution along the Atlantic coast, extending from southern Mexico to Colombia, and occurs on offshore islands such as the Bay Islands (Honduras) and Great Corn Island (Nicaragua; Dunn 1939; Villa 1969; Barquero and Arguedas 2019). In Panama, its distribution extends from the western region to Costa Arriba de Colón and the former Panama Canal Zone (Dunn 1939; Villa 1969, 1970; Ray and Ruback 2015; González and González 2016). We report Tretanorhinus nigroluteus fo

Morphology, ethology, new records, and ecological niche modeling for Hydromorphus and Tretanorhinus (Squamata, Colubridae) in Panama