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Alsophis rufiventris (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL, 1854)

IUCN Red List - Alsophis rufiventris - Endangered, EN
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Alsophiini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Red-bellied Racer, Saba Racer, Orange-bellied racer 
SynonymDromicus rufiventris DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 668
Alsophis rufiventris — GARMAN 1887: 282
Dromicus rufiventris — BOULENGER 1894: 124
Alsophis rufiventris — FOWLER 1918
Alsophis rufiventris — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 575
Alsophis rufiventris — CROTHER 1999
Alsophis rufiventris — WALLACH et al. 2014: 25 
DistributionSt. Kitts & Nevis (St. Christopher, Nevis),
Netherlands Antilles (Saba, St. Eustatius)

Type locality: “Brasil” (in error).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: MNHN-RA 3559-3560 
DiagnosisDESCRIPTION: Maximum SVL 920 mm; dorsal scale rows at midbody usually 23, occasionally 21; ventrals 204-220; subcaudals 94-122; supralabials 8/8; infralabials 10/10; preoculars 1/1 or 2/2; postoculars 2/2; loreals 1/1; anal divided. Dorsal ground color (as preserved) beige, pale brown to dark brown, gray, taupe; dorsal pattern sexually dimorphic: males with diffuse, black-bordered, brown blotches on middle of back, which deteriorate posteriorly into diffuse, broad, dark middorsal stripe; females with paramedian series of streaks and smudges, becoming less obvious posteriorly; stripe running from nasal to eye, from postoculars to anteriormost dorsals; venter orange-beige, cream or dirty yellow, suffused with dark brown, becoming heavier posteriorly (anterior ventrals immaculate or only lightly suffused with brown) (Schwartz & Henderson 1991: 575). 
CommentIllustrations: Henderson and Sajdak, 1986, Baumeister 2000. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “rufus” = red and “venter” = belly. 
References
  • Barbour, Thomas 1923. West Indian investigations of 1922. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (132): 1-9 - get paper here
  • Baumeister, W. 2000. Saba - ein Paradies in der Karibik. DATZ 53 (7): 20-23
  • Boulenger, George A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London, xi, 382 pp. - get paper here
  • Crother, Brian I. 1999. PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG WEST INDIAN XENODONTINE SNAKES (SERPENTES; COLUBRIDAE) WITH COMMENTS ON THE PHYLOGENY OF SOME MAINLAND XENODONTINES. Contemporary Herpetology 2 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., G. BIBRON & A.H.A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 7 (partie 1). Paris, xvi + 780 S. - get paper here
  • Fowler, H. W. 1918. Some amphibians and reptiles from Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Publ. Carnegie Inst. Washington, 252: 1-16.
  • Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24: 278-286. - get paper here
  • Henderson, R.W., and Sajdak, R.A. 1986. West Indian racers: disappearing act or a second chance? Lore (Milwaukee Public Museum) 36(3):13-18.
  • Maley, A.J.; A.Z. Savit, H.M. Heinz, R. Powell, and R.W. Henderson 2006. Alsophis rufiventris. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 818: 1-4 - get paper here
  • Malhotra, A. & Thorpe, R.S. 1999. Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. MacMillan, London & Oxford
  • Savit, Aaron Z.; Maley, Abigail J.; Heinz, Heather M.; Henderson, Robert W.; Powell, Robert 2005. Distribution and activity periods of Alsophis rufiventris (Colubridae) on The Quill, St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. Amphibia-Reptilia 26 (3): 418-421 - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • 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.
 
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