Calamitous Shadow Snake
Synophis calamitus Hillis, 1990
Also calledCulebra Andinas de la Sombra calamitosas (spa)
First described in: Hillis, D. M. A new species of xenodontine colubrid snake of the genus Synophis from Ecuador and the phylogeny of the genera Synophis and Emmochliophis.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
description
Description. A group of relatively small (~ 450 mm SVL) dipsadine snakes of the cloud forests of the Pacific versant of the Andean highlands of Ecuador diagnosable by 9 - 11 infralabials, 7 - 9 supralabials, fused prefrontals, internasals separated, loreal present, 1 or 2 postoculars, 163 - 166 ventrals, 110 - 125 subcaudals, dorsal scales in (21 - 23) - 19 - 17 weakly keeled rows, neural spine expanded and flattened, and laterally expanded zygapophyses. Known from middle to high-elevation (~ 1900 - 2200 m) cloud forests north of the Rio Toachi. Nothing is known of diet or reproduction.
Systematics of Nothopsini (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with a new species of Synophis from the Pacific Andean slopes of southwestern Ecuador
etymology
Etymology. From the Latin for " calamity, " referring to accidents that befell the original collectors (Hillis 1990).
Systematics of Nothopsini (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with a new species of Synophis from the Pacific Andean slopes of southwestern Ecuador
description
Range. Pacific Andean slopes of central and northern Ecuador, primarily in Pichincha, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and Cotopaxi provinces, ~ 1000 – 2300 m. Populations also occur in Carchi province (~ 1900 m), and possibly Chimborazo province (~ 800 m; see below). Description. Adult size ~ 330 – 510 mm SVL and ~ 190 – 280 mm TL (assuming> 330 mm SVL is adult), smooth nuchal scales; no nuchal collar; intranasals usually in contact but occasionally divided by rostral; usually 2 postoculars but occasionally 0 or 1; 8 – 11 infralabials; 7 – 9 supralabials; 157 – 166 ventrals; 96 – 125 subcaudals including possibly truncated tails, 100 – 113 in females, 109 – 118 in males; and (19 – 23) - 19 - 17 dorsal scale-rows with single, weak keel. Notes. Includes a much larger range of specimens identified as Synophis aff. bicolor from the western Andes by Pyron et al. (2015). The specimen from Carchi province in northern Ecuador (QCAZ 5847) is morphologically identical to other S. calamitus populations (Torres-Carvajal et al. 2015), but genetically distinct from the central Ecuadorean populations (Figs. 1, 4). There is thus intraspecific genetic diversity in S. calamitus, possibly related to
A revision and key for the tribe Diaphorolepidini (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) and checklist for the genus Synophis
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Synophis calamitus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2453814.