Atractus melanogaster WERNER, 1916
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Atractus melanogaster
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Blackbelly Ground Snake |
| Synonym | Atractus melanogaster WERNER 1916: 308 Atractus obtusirostris – WERNER 1916 (in part) Atractus obtusirostris — AMARAL 1931 Atractus melanogaster — PASSOS & ARREDONDO 2009 Atractus melanogaster — WALLACH et al. 2014: 76 |
| Distribution | Colombia (Tolima, Antioquia) Type locality: Cañon del Tolima, Dep. de Tolima, Colombia Neotype locality: Quebrada Perales (2420 m), Vereda La Palma, 11.4 km west of the municipality of Cajamarca (04° 27’ N, 75° 26’ W), depart- ment of Tolima, Colombia (designated by PASSOS & LYNCH 2010). |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Neotype. ICN-MHN = ICN 10030, adult male, collected on 29 May 1981 by J. D. Lynch and V. Rueda. Holotype: adult female, originally housed at Landesmuseum Brno in Czech Republic (lost). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Atractus melanogaster is distinguished from all congeners by having: (1) 17/17/17 smooth dorsal scale rows; (2) generally two postoculars; (3) loreal long; (4) temporals 1 + 2; (5) generally eight supralabials, fourth and fifth contacting orbit; (6) generally seven infralabials, first four contacting chinshields; (7) 8–11 maxillary teeth; (8) four gular scales; (9) generally four preventrals; (10) 160–174 ventrals in females, 151– 162 in males; (11) 16–18 subcaudals in females, 19–28 in males; (12) dorsum brown, with an irregular vertebral line barely defined, paravertebral dark brown blotches, and first three dorsal scale rows contrasting (lighter or darker) with upper rows; (13) venter predominantly black with cream irregular blotches; (14) moderate body size, females reaching 475 mm SVL, males 336 mm SVL; (15) small tail length in females (7.2–8.5% SVL), small to moderate (8.8–13.2% SVL) in males; (16) hemipenis moderate bilobed, semicapitate, semicalyculate. |
| Comment | Conservation: Since the original description, there have been no additional records of A. melanogaster. Hence, this species appears to be very rare and potentially threatened. Similar species: Atractus melanogaster and Atractus obtusirostris have parapatric distributions and little overlap for some meristic features (i.e., number of ventral and infralabial scales), so it is possible to consider Atractus obtusirostris as a subspecies of A. melanogaster. Nevertheless, both taxa actually differ in the number of subcaudals, supralabials, infralabials contacting chinshields, and dorsal and ventral color pattern. |
| Etymology | Named after Greek melanos (μέλανος), black + Greek gastir (γαστήρ), abdomen, belly, stomach. ["...Unterseite sonst dunkelgrau mit kleinen weißen Spritzflecken und weit entfernt stehenden großen weißen Flecken...“]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024) |
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