Brown Vinesnake

description

Morphometric and meristic characters. Snout-vent length 575 – 843 mm (adults> 500 mm, n = 7). Tail length 345 – 520 mm (n = 7). Smooth dorsal scales 17 - 17 - 13 rows (100 %), without apical pits. Ventral scales 182 – 192 (x ̅ = 187). Subcaudal scales 152 – 168 (x ̅ = 158). Divided cloacal plate (100 %). Loreal absent (100 %). Preocular 1 (100 %). Postoculars 2 (100 %). Temporals 1 + 2 (100 %). Supralabials 8 – 9 (9 / 9 in 66 % of specimens, 8 / 9 in 22 % and 8 / 8 in 11 %); fourth and fifth contact the orbit (33 %), fourth, fifth and sixth contact the orbit (56 %), and fifth and sixth contact the orbit (11 %). Infralabials 9 – 10 (9 / 10 in 56 % of specimens and 10 / 10 in 44 %); the first four in contact with the first pair of chin shields (89 %) and the first five contact the first pair of chin shields (11 %) (Table 2); and usually the fourth, fifth and sixth contact the second pair of chin shields.

Vine snakes (Oxybelis) and Sharpnose snakes (Xenoxybelis) (Squamata, Serpentes) from lowlands of Bolivia, with first records of Oxybelis inkaterra for the country

distribution

Distribution. Widespread from Central America (Wallach et al., 2014) to South America, in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela (Plt. 141 A). In Brazil, widespread in Amazonia, Cerrado, Caatinga, to northern and central Atlantic Forest (Plt. 141 A), at low to high elevations (Plt. 141 B). Observed in the field in forest and open areas, including grasslands (FranÇa and Araújo, 2006; Martins et al., 2008 b; Recoder et al., 2011; Marques et al., 2017).

Atlas of Brazilian Snakes: Verified Point-Locality Maps to Mitigate the Wallacean Shortfall in a Megadiverse Snake Fauna

materials_examined

Type locality. Rio Solimões, Tefé, state of Amazonas, Brazil.

Atlas of Brazilian Snakes: Verified Point-Locality Maps to Mitigate the Wallacean Shortfall in a Megadiverse Snake Fauna

Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler 1824) Wagler 1824

Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler, 1824) “Cipó-bicuda” (Figs. 12.5 and 25.3) Distributed in all regions of the Caatinga and was recorded in high and low altitudes (between 0 and 1,100 m elevation). It is also widely distributed in Atlantic Forest, Amazon Forest, Cerrado, and Pantanal (Cunha & Nascimento 1978; Strüssmann & Sazima 1993; Martins & Oliveira 1998; Marques et al. 2001; Argôlo 2004; Marques et al. 2005; Marques et al. 2005; Sawaya et al. 2008; Nogueira et al. 2010; Zaher et al. 2011). This species was abundant on grasslands on sandy soils in the Cerrado (Recoder et al. 2011, CN pers. obs.), but inside Caatinga it is widespread, abundant, and inhabits all kinds of vegetation types described for Caatinga, from areas with arboreal Caatinga to bushy and open, herbaceous areas (TBG pers. obs.). The species has arboreal habits, is diurnal, and feeds on vertebrates (Marques et al. 2005).

Diversity, natural history, and geographic distribution of snakes in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil