Atractus melas BOULENGER, 1908
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Atractus melas?
Atractus melas
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Dark Ground Snake |
| Synonym | Atractus melas BOULENGER 1908: 114 Atractus melas — PASSOS & ARREDONDO 2009 Atractus melas — WALLACH et al. 2014: 76 |
| Distribution | Colombia (Chocó to Valle de Cauca), elevation 80–300 m Type locality: Los Mangos, Dep. Valles, Colombia, 300 m elevation, 03º46’N, 76º45’W. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.6.33, adult female, (formerly 1908.5.29.54), from Los Mangos (= Juntas, 03º46’N, 76º45’W, ca. 300 m), department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia, collected by Palmer (specimen examined). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Atractus melas is distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) 17/17/17 smoooth dorsal scale rows; (2) two postoculars; (3) loreal long; (4) temporals 1+2; (5) seven supralabials, third and fourth contacting orbit; (6) seven infralabials, first four contacting chinshields; (7) six or seven maxillary teeth; (8) four gular scale rows; (9) four or five preventrals; (10) 144 ventrals in the single known female, 134–140 in males; (11) 25 subcaudals in female, 33–34 in males; (12) dorsum uniformly black; (13) venter uniformly black; (14) small body size, female with 205 mm SVL, males reaching 194 mm SVL; (15) long tail in female (17.1% of SVL) and males (18.5–19.1% of SVL); (16) hemipenis moderately bilobed. |
| Comment | Habitat: rainforest Distribution: a photographic record of Atractus cf. melas from the Bilsa Biological Station, province of Esmeraldas, northwestern Ecuador (Ortega-Andrade et al. 2010) corresponds to A. multicinctus (Arteaga et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | Named after Greek melas (μέλας), black, dark. [“...Uniform black...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024) |
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