Dipsas latifrontalis (BOULENGER, 1905)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Dipsas latifrontalis?
Dipsas latifrontalis
Find more photos by Google images search: 
| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Broad-fronted Snail-Eater, Venezuela Snail-eater S: Caracolera frentona |
| Synonym | Leptognathus latifrontalis BOULENGER 1905: 561 Sibynomorphus latifrontalis — AMARAL 1930c:197 Dipsas latifrontalis — PETERS 1960:103 (in part) Dipsas latifrontalis — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 88 Dipsas latifrontalis — KORNACKER 1999: 79 Dipsas latifrontalis — CADLE 2005 Dipsas peruana — HARVEY & EMBERT 2008 (part.) Dipsas latifrontalis — NATERA-MUMAW et al. 2015: 129 Dipsas latifrontalis — ARTEAGA et al. 2018: 127 |
| Distribution | Venezuela (Lara, Aragua, Carabobo, Distrito Federal, Miranda, Vargas), Colombia Type locality: Aricagua, Edo. Mérida, Venezuela. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.20.98, adult female |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Dipsas latifrontalis differs from all described species of Dipsas based on the following combination of characters: (1) 15/15/15 smooth dorsals with moderately enlarged vertebral row; (2) one loreal and one preocular in contact with orbit; (3) 8–10 supralabials with 3rd to 6th contacting orbit; (4) one pair of infralabials in contact behind symphysial; (5) 192 ventrals in one male (CVULA 7883), 194 in the female holotype; (6) 109 divided subcaudals in the single male, 95 in the female holotype; (7) dorsal and ventral ground color bronze (light brown in juveniles) with 32–36 dark reddish brown to black, circular to vertically elliptical blotches that are longer than interspaces and white to cream edged on first half of body; head grayish brown to black with different degrees of whitish edging on the labial scales, and with or without a thin (1–2 scales long) dingy white irregular nuchal collar; dorsal blotches extending marginally onto ventrals and occasionally fusing on the anterior part of the body; (8) 800 mm SVL in the holotype female; (9) 220 mm TL in the holotype female. Additional details (846 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970, HARVEY & EMBERT 2008, and ARTEAGA et al. 2018. Harvey and Embert (2009) resurrected the name D. praeornata for the Venezuelan coastal range population and relegated D. latifrontalis to a synonym of D. peruana. Arteaga et al. 2018 removed D. latifrontalis from the synonymy of peruana. All Dipsas latifrontalis depicted in Lotzkat et al. (2008) and Natera-Mumaw et al. (2015) refer to a different species related to the D. incerta group, except for the holotype of D. latifrontalis BMNH 1946.1.20.98 (formerly 1905.5.31.76), fide ARTEAGA et al. 2018: 128. Distribution: peruana not in Venezuela but latifrontalis is (Luis Esqueda, pers. comm., 21 April 2016, see Natera-Mumaw et al. 2015 for details). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin latus, wide, broad; spacious, extensive and Latin frontalis, related to the forehead. [“...frontal slightly broader than Iong...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024) |
| References |
|
| External links |