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Chironius flavopictus (WERNER, 1909)

IUCN Red List - Chironius flavopictus - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sipo 
SynonymHerpetodryas carinatus var. flavopicta WERNER 1909: 220
Herpetodryas carinatus var. flavopicta — AMARAL 1930: 14
Chironius flavopictus — PETERS 1960: 511
Chironius flavopictus — MIYATA 1982: 16
Chironius carinatus flavopictus — DIXON et al. 1993: 77
Chironius flavopictus — HOLLIS 2006
Chironius flavopictus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 160
Chironius flavopictus — BERNAL & DUBOIS 2023
Chironius falvopictus — SASA et al. 2025 (in error) 
DistributionPanama, Costa Rica, W Colombia, Ecuador

Lectotype locality: Guayaquil, Ecuador.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: ZMH R 00651 (Hamburg), designated by Dixon et al. 1995: 78. Werner 1909 mentioned 2 female specimens (types). 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1465 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy partly after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

Max. total length: 175 cm

Habitat: Ch. carinatus flavopictus prefers evergreen rainforest while carinatus spixi inhabits dry forests and savannas (Dixon et al., 1993). Semi-arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Distribution: Map: Dixon et al. 1993: 69 (incl. subspecies). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin: flavus, ‘yellow’ and pictus ‘painted’. 
References
  • Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here
  • Barquero-González, J.P., Stice, T.L., Gómez, G., & Monge-Nájera, J. 2020. Are tropical reptiles really declining? A six-year survey of snakes in a tropical coastal rainforest: role of prey and environment. Revista de Biología Tropical, 68(1): 336-343; doi:10.20944/preprints201908.0123.v1 - get paper here
  • Bernal, R. 2025. Serpientes de Colombia-Guía de Campo. Serie de Guías Tropicales de Campo. 19: 396 pp. Conservación Internacional Colombia, Bogotá - get paper here
  • Bernal, Rodrigo & Alain Dubois 2023. Chironius scurrula, the correct nomen for Chironius scurrulus (Squamata, Serpentes, Colubridae), with a list of the correct spellings of specific epithets currently in use in this genus. Bionomina 34: 035–044 - get paper here
  • Cuadrado, S. S., Loor, Y. A., Zambrano, R. H., & Narváez, A. E. 2023. Species Composition and Ecology of Diurnal Herpetofauna in Agroecosystems of the Ecuadorian Chocó. South American Journal of Herpetology, 29(1), 66-76 - get paper here
  • Dixon J R; Wiest J A Jr; Cei J M 1993. Revision of the Neotropical snake genus Chironius Fitzinger (Serpentes, Colubridae). MUSEO REGIONALE DI SCIENZE NATURALI MONOGRAFIE (TURIN) 13 :1-280
  • Gutierrez-Campos, Pablo José; Raquel Gil Carrasco 2023. Predatory behavior of the Yellow-spotted Keelback (Chironius flavopictus) in the Golfito Wildlife Reserve, Costa Rica. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18244 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Hollis, J.L. 2006. Phylogenetics of the genus Chironius Fitzinger 1826 (Serpenes, Colubridae) based on morphology. Herpetologica 62 (4): 435-452 - get paper here
  • Miyata, K. 1982. A check list of the amphibians and reptiles of Ecuador, with a bibliography of Ecuadorian herpetology. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (54): 70 pp. - get paper here
  • Peters , J. A. 1960. The snakes of Ecuador; check list and key. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 122: 489-541 - get paper here
  • Pinto-Erazo, M.A., Calderón-Espinosa, M.L., Medina-Rangel, G.F. & Méndez-Galeano, M.A. 2020. Herpetofauna from two municipalities of southwestern Colombia. Biota Colombiana 21(1): 41-57. DOI: 10.21068/c2020.v21n01a04 - get paper here
  • Ray, Julie M. and Patty Ruback 2015. Updated checklists of snakes for the provinces of Panamá and Panamá Oeste, Republic of Panama. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (2): 168-188 - get paper here
  • Roberto, I. J. and Souza, A. R. 2020. Review of prey items recorded for snakes of the genus Chironius (Squamata, Colubridae), including the first record of Osteocephalus as prey. Herpetology Notes 13: 1-5. - get paper here
  • Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - get paper here
  • Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D. 2019. Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich portal, with a dynamic checklist and photographic guides. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1): [General Section]: 209–229 (e178) - get paper here
  • Torres-Carvajal, O., Echevarría, L.Y., Lobos, S.E., Venegas, P.J., Kok, P.J.R. 2018. Phylogeny, diversity and biogeography of Neotropical sipo snakes (Serpentes: Colubrinae: Chironius). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 315-329 - get paper here
  • Von Saenger, Margaret and Julie M. Ray. 2016. Geographic Distribution: Chironius flavopictus (Sipo Keelback). Herpetological Review 47 (1): 83 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Werner,F. 1909. Über neue oder seltene Reptilien des Naturhistorischen Museums in Hamburg. Jahrb. Hamb. wiss. Anst. suppl. 2 (Mitt. Naturhist. Mus. Hamb. 1908) 26: 205-247 - get paper here
 
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