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Dipsas indica LAURENTI, 1768

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesDipsas indica indica LAURENTI 1768
Dipsas indica ecuadoriensis PETERS 1960
Dipsas indica petersi HOGE & ROMANO-HOGE 1975 
Common NamesE: Neotropical Snail-eater
Portuguese: Cobra-Cipó, Come-Lesma, Dorme-Dorme, Dormideira, Dorminhoca, Jararaca-Preguiçosa, Jararaquinha-Pingo-de-Ouro, Papa-Lesma, Pingo-de-Ouro, Quiriripitá 
SynonymDipsas indica LAURENTI 1768: 90
Dipsas indica — BEEBE 1946: 24
Dipsas indica — GASC & RODRIGUES 1980
Dipsas indica — STARACE 1998: 170
Dipsas indica — KORNACKER 1999: 79
Dipsas indica — WALLACH et al. 2014: 232

Dipsas indica ecuadoriensis PETERS 1960
Dipsas indica ecuadoriensis — DUELLMAN 1978: 238
Dipsas indica ecuadoriensis — HARVEY et al. 2008

Dipsas indica petersi HOGE & ROMANO-HOGE 1975
Dipsas petersi — CICCHI et al. 2007
Dipsas petersi — CRUZ-CENTENO et al. 2008
Dipsas petersi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 234
Dipsas indica petersi — COSTA & BÉRNILS 2014 
DistributionColombia, Venezuela (Amazonas, Bolivar), Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil (Bahia [HR 29: 176, 33: 323], Goias), Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia; elevation 80-1000 m.

indica: Brazil (Bahia, Roraima etc.); Type locality: in error (see comment)

ecuadoriensis: Ecuador; Type locality: Napo-Pastaza, Río Solis, Cabeceras del Río Bobonaza, 14 km ESES Puyo.

petersi: Brazil (Espirito Santo, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, E Sao Paulo, E Parana, NE Santa Catarina, Cardoso, Santo Amaro, Sao Sebastiao and Sao Vicente Islands); Type locality: "Pedro de Toldeo, Sao Paulo, Brazil" [= Pedro de Toledo, SE Sao Paulo State, SE Brazil, 24°17'S, 47°l4'W, elevation 85 m].  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: iconotype, specimen described and illustrated by Seba (1734: 71, pI. 43, fig. 5), designated and lost by JA. Peters (1960b: 68).
Holotype: UMMZ 118064 [ecuadoriensis]
Lectotype: iconotype, specimen described and illustrated by Seba (1734: 71, pI. 43, fig. 5), designated by but lost fide JA. Peters (1960b: 68) [petersi] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis and definition (genus): The following list of characters distinguishes Dipsas from other Neotropical colubrids: (1) Body strongly compressed; head distinct from neck; (2) eyes large and prominent, frequently visible from below, pupil elliptical; (3) at midbody, dorsals in odd numbered rows, usually 11–17, rarely reducing in number anterior to vent; smooth and lacking apical pits; (4) vertebral scale row enlarged in some species; (5) loreal present, entering orbit or separated from orbit by preocular; (6) preoculars 0–2; postoculars usually 2; temporals highly variable; (7) supralabials 6–11; infralabials usually more than 10; one or two pairs in contact behind mental (except in D. temporalis); (8) no single supralabial simultaneously contacting a postocular, primary temporal, and secondary temporal; (9) chinshields square to rectangular and irregular; mental groove very weak to absent; (10) no single infralabial greatly enlarged and extending beyond labial row to touch posterior chinshield; (11) anal scale not divided; (12) hemipenis with a calyculate capitulum; (13) sulcus spermaticus bifurcating within capitulum; (14) lateral nude pocket present; (15) base of hemipenis covered in long spines and small spinules; (16) hemipenis with pair of basal hooks separated from spine rows by asulcate patch; (17) color pattern of bands, saddles, or blotches; (17) maxilla directed inward; its teeth subequal or increasing slightly in length toward rear; grooves and diastema absent; (18) tracheal lung well developed (see Harvey & Embert 2009, Peters 1960). 
CommentSynonymy following that of CEI 1993 and PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970. KLUGE 1984 listed Dipsas indica ecuadoriensis as a synonym of Dipsas latifrontalis BOULENGER. Dipsas infrenalis ROSEN 1905: 181 is of unclear status (incertae sedis) fide PETERS 1960. It’s origin is unknown although a type specimen still exists (Holotype: ZMUL).

Distribution: Not in Paraguay (Cacciali et al. 2016). Terra typica: erroneously given as “Ceylon”. See map in Nogueira et al. 2019.

Subspecies after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970. Dipsas indica bucephala (SHAW 1802) has been elevated to species status and HARVEY & EMBERT (2009) tentatively considered Dipsas indica cisticeps (BOETTGER 1885) as a subspecies of D. bucephala.

Type species: Dipsas indica LAURENTI 1768 is the type species of the genus Dipsas LAURENTI 1768. The genus is also the type genus of the (sub-) family Dipsadinae or Dipsadidae.

Phylogenetics: for a phylogeny of the Dipsadinae, see Serrano et al. 2024.

NCBI: 2056179 [petersi]

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Key: Ray et al. 2023 (ZooKeys 1145: 131) presented a key to Central American Dipsas. 
EtymologyNamed after the alleged origin, “Ceylon” as a place near India, both of which are in error.

The genus is named after Greek διψάς = a venomous snake whose bite causes intense thirst (Wilhelm Pape: Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache. Braunschweig 31914, Band 1, S. 647). Feminine. 
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