Apostolepis flavotorquata (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL, 1854)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Apostolepis flavotorquata?
Apostolepis flavotorquata
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Cerrado Blackhead, Central Burrowing Snake |
| Synonym | Elapomorphus flavo-torquatus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 836 Apostolepis flavotorquata — COPE 1862 Elapomorphus flavotorquatus — JAN 1865 Elapomorphus flavotorquatus — STRAUCH 1884: 583 Apostolepis flavotorquata — PETERS et al. 1970: 22 Apostolepis flavotorquata — DE LEMA 2002 Apostolepis flavotorquata — MARTINS & DE LEMA 2015 Apostolepis flavotorquata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 51 Apostolepis flavotorquata — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | C Brazil (Goias, Tocantins, Bahia, Matto Grosso, Matto Grosso do Sul, Para, São Paulo) Type locality: “Amérique Méridional”; Goias, Brazil (fide DE LEMA & RENNER 2005) |
| Reproduction | oviparous; very long eggs are put within ant nests, under fungi cultures |
| Types | Holotype: MNHN-RA 3665 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Apostolepis is readily diagnosed based on the presence of fused prefrontal and internasal scales (Ferrarezzi 1993). |
| Comment | Synonymy that of PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 (who also synonymized Elapomorphus nigrolineatus PETERS 1869: 439 with A. flavotorquata; however, Ferrarezzi, in his PhD thesis [1993] considered A. nigrolineata as a valid species). E. nigrolineatus is now considered a synonym of Apostolepis pymi by some authors). Type species: Elapomorphus flavotorquatus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854 is the type species of the genus Apostolepis COPE 1862. Habitat (genus): Fossorial, cryptozoic, with Behavior (genus): nocturnal. Diet (genus): Usually ophiophagous feeding on amphisbaenians, small colubrids and, perhaps, blindsnakes (Scolecophidia). Sometimes invertebrates and larvae found in the soil, earthworms. See Entiauspe-Neto et al. 2020 for a comparison of A. thalesdelemai with A. longicaudata, A. quinquelineata, A. nelsonjorgei, A. niceforoi, A. nigrolineata, A. nigroterminata. |
| Etymology | Named after Latin flavus, yellow, golden, gold colored + Latin torquatus, torquata, wearing a collar or necklace. (Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) The genus was named after after Apostolepis: Greek aposta (ἀπόστα), from Greek ἀφεστήξω, shall be absent, away from + Greek lepis (λεπίς), scale; epithelial debris |
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