Dipsas brevifacies (COPE, 1866)
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Dipsas brevifacies
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Short-faced snail eater, Snail-eating Thirst Snake S: Caracolera de Cara Corta |
| Synonym | Tropidodipsas brevifacies COPE 1866: 127 Dipsadomorus fasciatus BOCOURT 1884: 135 Leptognathus torquatus COPE 1885: 172 (substitute name for D. fasciatus) Dirosema brevifacies — BOCOURT 1908 (fide VILLA et al. 1988) Leptognathus brevifacies — WERNER 1910: 280 Sibynomorphus brevifacies — SCHMIDT & ANDREWS 1936 (fide VILLA et al.) Dipsas brevifacies — PETERS 1960: 38 Dipsas brevifacies — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 86 Dipsas brevifacies — VILLA et al. 1988 Dipsas brevifacies — LINER 1994 Dipsas brevifacies — CAMPBELL 1998 Dipsas brevifacies — LINER 2007 Dipsas brevifacies — WALLACH et al. 2014: 231 |
| Distribution | Mexico (Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo), Belize [HR 17: 67], Guatemala Type locality: Yucatán. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: USNM 24886, male. |
| Diagnosis | DESCRIPTION (apparently based on ~23 specimens). Rostral broader than deep, barely visible from above; internasals three-fourths the length of prefrontals; frontal as long as or slightly shorter than broad; nasal divided; loreal enters orbit; preoculars none, 1, 2 or 3 (loreal and preocular region extremely variable, see below); postoculars 3; suboculars none or 1; primary temporals 2, secondary temporals 3, tertiary temporals 4; upper labials 9, 4th and 5th entering orbit. Lower labials 9 to 13, the first 2 pairs in contact behind mental, 4 labials in contact with first chin shield; no lower labial enlarged; 2 pairs of chin shields. Ventrals 167-176 in males, 166-174 in females; anal entire; subcaudals 83-100 in males, 69-87 in females. Dorsal scale rows 15 from 5th to 7th ventral to anus; vertebral row not to scarcely enlarged; caudodorsals: Males: 6 2+3 (19-31) 4 1+2 (51-82) 2 (83-100) Females: 6 2+3 (11-24) 4 1+2 (48-63) 2 (69-87) Maxillary teeth 17-19 (9 individuals); palatine teeth 11-16 (7); pterygoid teeth 3-6 (9). Body length, male 373 mm., female 357 mm., minimum 131 mm.; tail length, male 155 mm., female 123 mm., minimum 42 mm. Coloration: Dorsal ground color cream to white, occasionally with pink cast, with, in males, 12-16 complete dark-brown to black rings on body, 6-11 on tail, in females, 10-14 on body, 5-8 on tail; which are longer anteriorly (15 to 20 scale rows) than posteriorly (8-12 scale rows), and shorter ventrally than dorsally by one or two scales; eight interspaces, 2 to 5 scale rows wide at vertebral row, wider ventrally when black ring is narrowed; both rings and interspaces unicolor, without lighter centers or spotting and stippling (Pl. Ia). Belly as in dorsum; dorsal bands meet uniformly on midventral line on body, may be irregular on tail, with edges widely separated. Head unicolor black from tip of snout to posterior edge of parietals and to primary or secondary temporal rows; followed by a nuchal collar which is cream-colored a s are the rest of interspaces. Chin black to end of paired chin shields or to first unpaired gulars, edges usually confluent with the black of head. Juvenile pattern as in adult. Schmidt and Andrews (1936:175) stated that “In life the light body-bands were bittersweet pink alternating with black, with a flame scarlet neck-band.” (Peters 1960: 39). Variation: see Fig. 5 in Peters 1960: 41 for variation in head scalation. |
| Comment | Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
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