Olive Keelback

distribution

Distribution. Endemic to Brazil (Plt. 284 A), recorded in the central portion of the Atlantic Forest and the southern portion of the Cerrado (Plt. 284 A), at intermediate to high elevations (Plt. 284 B). Observed in the field in lentic waters of flooded areas (Costa et al., 2016).

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

Diagnosis

Helicops modestus differs from all its congeners, except H. carinicaudus, H. danieli, H. infrataeniatus, H. leopardinus , H. phantasma and H. tapajonicus by the absence of subcaudal keels and having 19 dorsal scale rows at anterior body. From the remaining species, it differs in having a black to dark green dorsum with indistinct longitudinal stripes and a nearly uniform light cream venter, sometimes with faint flecks; (for information on references, see Suppl. material 3).

Distribution and identification of the species in the genus Helicops Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Xenodontinae)

Distribution

Helicops modestus is occurring from the Brazilian Province Bahia to the Province Paraná and seems to range from the east shore of Brazil to the south of Mato Grosso. There is also one literature record from Volta Grande do Xingu in the Brazilian Province Para, near its estuary into the Amazon (Vaz-Silva et al. 2015, Fig. 2d).

Distribution and identification of the species in the genus Helicops Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Xenodontinae)

Helicops modestus Gunther 1861

Helicops modestus Günther, 1861 “Cobra-d’água” (Figs. 15.7 and 28.2) It was recorded only in the state of Bahia, municipality of Caitité. This area is located in the Chapada Diamantina complex, ca. 970 m elevation. We have only one specimen recorded (Freitas & Silva 2011) and we believe this species has a restricted distribution confined to high altitude areas. It is also distributed in upland Atlantic Forest and Cerrado (Marques et al. 2001; Nogueira et al. 2010). It was found in a complex phytophysionomic of dry forest that includes xerophytic phytophysiognomies of the arboreal and bush caatinga and cerrado vegetation (M. A. Freitas pers. comm). It is diurnal and nocturnal, and feeds on frogs and fishes (Scartozzoni 2009).

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