Banded Ground Snake

description

Description: Head twice as long as wide, slightly arched in lateral view, rounded in dorsal view; snout truncate in lateral view, slightly rounded in dorsal view; cervical constriction indistinct; rostral subtriangular in frontal view, broader than high, poorly visible in dorsal view; internasal longer than wide; internasal suture sinistral with respect to prefrontal suture; prefrontal as long as wide; supraocular sub-trapezoidal, twice as long as wide; frontal pentagonal, as long as wide; parietal about twice as long as wide; nasal divided; nostril between pre- and postnasal; prenasal twice as high as long; postnasal about as high as long, as high as prenasal; loreal long, contacting second and third supralabials; pupil round; postoculars equally high; upper postocular slightly longer than lower postocular; temporals 1 + 2; first temporal about three times as long as high; upper posterior temporals elongate, about three times as long as wide; seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; first two supralabials equally high, smaller than third and fourth supralabials; sixth higher and seventh longer than remaining supralabials; symphisial subtriangular, twice as broad as l

Pacific lowland snakes of the genus Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae), with description of three new species

description

Rabdosoma badium var. multicinctum Jan in Jan and Sordelli, 1865; Iconographie Générale des Ophidiens 10: plate 4, fig. 5. Atractus badius — Boulenger, 1896; Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum 2: 308 (part). Atractus multicinctus — Boulenger, 1898; Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1898: 116. Atractus multicinctus — Boulenger, 1913; Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1913: 1035. Atractus multicinctus — Savage, 1960; Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan 112: 54.

Pacific lowland snakes of the genus Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae), with description of three new species

diagnosis

Diagnosis: Atractus multicinctus is distinguished from all congeners by the combination of the following characters: (1) 17 / 17 / 17 smooth dorsal scale rows; (2) two postoculars; (3) loreal long; (4) temporals 1 + 2; (5) seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; (6) six or seven infralabials, first three contacting chinshields; (7) five or six maxillary teeth; (8) four gular scale rows; (9) four preventrals; (10) 177 – 184 ventrals in females, 168 – 183 in males; (11) 31 – 36 subcaudals in females, 40 – 43 in males; (12) dorsal ground colour beige with wide black bands alternating on flanks and occasionally contacting opposite bands in the vertebral region; (13) venter uniformly creamish white; (14) moderate body size in female 312 mm SVL, and small in males 249 mm SVL; (15) tail moderate in females (12.6 – 13.5 % SVL) and long in males (15.3 – 20.5 % of SVL); (16) hemipenis strongly bilobed, semicapitate, semicalyculate. Comparisons: Among all congeners, A. multicinctus shares only with A. clarki 17 dorsal scale rows, 31 – 36 subcaudals in females and 34 – 43 in males, generally six infralabials, generally three infralabials contacting chinshields, five to seven lar

Pacific lowland snakes of the genus Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae), with description of three new species

discussion

Remarks: Jan in Jan and Sordelli (1865) described Rabdosoma badium var. multicinctus on the basis of a specimen from Lima without specify country provenance. Boulenger (1896) synonymized Atractus badium multicinctus with the nominal species (A. badius). Subsequently, Boulenger (1898) resurrected A. multicinctus based on a specimen from Paramba, province of Imbabura, Ecuador, establishing that ventral count differences guarantee both species’ distinction. Boulenger (1913) reported an individual of A. multicinctus from Peña Lisa, Condoto in the department of Chocó, Colombia. Savage (1960) agreed with Boulenger’s associations and reported five additional specimens of A. multicinctus from the Pacific versant of Ecuador. Our study of the original plate from R. b. multicinctum, the examination of Boulenger’s sample, and analysis of additional specimens from Buenaventura corroborates identifications by Boulenger (1898, 1913) and Savage (1960). Savage (1960) interpreted the type locality of A. multicinctus as the capital of Peru and suggested this provenance was in error because Atractus records are lacking for the Pacific coast of Peru. However, Jan and Sodelli (1865) did not provide any

Pacific lowland snakes of the genus Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae), with description of three new species