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Enulius flavitorques (COPE, 1868)

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesEnulius flavitorques flavitorques (COPE 1868)
Enulius flavitorques sumichrasti BOCOURT 1883
Enulius flavitorques unicolor (FISCHER 1881) 
Common NamesE: Pacific Longtail Snake
S: Coluda del Pacifico 
SynonymLiophis flavitorques COPE 1868: 307
Enulius murinus COPE 1869: 80
Enulius murinus COPE 1871: 558
Leptocalamus torquatus GÜNTHER 1872 (fide COPE 1894: 205)
Enulius sumichrasti BOCOURT 1883 in DUMÉRIL et al.
Geagras longicaudatus — COPE 1885: 177
Geagras sumichrasti — COPE 1885: 177
Enulius flavitorques — DUNN 1938
Enulius flavitorques flavitorques — SMITH et al. 1967
Enulius flavitorques — WILSON & HAHN 1973
Enulius unicolor — ALVAREZ DEL TORO 1982 (fide VILLA et al. 1988)
Enulius sumichrasti — ALVAREZ DEL TORO 1982 (fide VILLA et al. 1988)
Enulius flavitorques — VILLA et al. 1988
Enulius flavitorques — LINER 1994
Enulius flavitorques — SAVAGE 2002
Enulius flavitorques — WALLACH et al. 2014: 274
Enulius flavitorques — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015
Enulius flavitorques — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024

Enulius flavitorques sumichrasti BOCOURT 1883
Enulius sumichrasti BOCOURT 1883: 538
Enulius sumichrasti — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 61
Enulius flavitorques sumichrasti — SMITH et al. 1967
Enulius flavitorques sumichrasti — LINER 2007

Enulius flavitorques unicolor (FISCHER 1881)
Geophis unicolor FISCHER 1881
Leptocalamus unicolor — COPE 1885: 178
Enulius unicolor — TAYLOR 1939
Enulius unicolor — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945: 61
Enulius unicolor — ÁLVAREZ DEL TORO & SMITH 1956: 13
Enulius flavitorques unicolor — SMITH et al. 1967
Enulius flavitorques unicolor — LINER 2007 
DistributionS Mexico (Morelos, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Jalisco, Puebla, Guerrero), Guatemala, Honduras [HR 34:265] (Solis et al. 2014), Belize ?, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama [Villa], Venezuela, Colombia

sumichrasti: Mexico (Chiapas); Type locality: Isthmus of Tehuantepec

unicolor: Mexico (Veracruz); Type locality: Las Vigas b. Jalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico 8000 ft; “Mexico” fide Smith & Taylor 1945: 61

flavitorques: Colombia (New Grenada); Type locality: Río Magdalena [Magdelena], New Grenada, Colombia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ANSP 3695
Holotype: MNHN-RA 1883.0428 [sumichrasti]
Holotype: lost, was UMB 434 (lost) [unicolor]
Syntypes: (2) ANSP 3314-15; Nicaragua, Occidental, Chinandega [Enulius murinus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): A genus of small, slender snakes (five species) with the basic colubrid complement of head shields. Enulius are separated from other members of the family by the following combination of characteristics: nasal divided; a loreal; usually no preoculars; pupil round; two pairs of chin shields; dorsal scales smooth, in 15 to 17 rows at midbody, with one or two apical pits; anal and subcaudals divided; maxillary teeth 3 to 5 plus two compressed and enlarged ungrooved postdiastemal teeth; prediastemal teeth increasing in size posteriorly; Duvernoy's gland probably present, but not confirmed; mandibular teeth small, equal; no hypapophyses on posterior dorsal vertebrae.
Members of this genus in Costa Rica are essentially black or dark brown above with a light nuchal collar that may be enlarged to include almost the entire head. This pattern serves to distinguish them from most other small colubrid snakes in the republic. The pattern combined with the presence of a loreal, apical pits, and a divided anal separates them from all other Costa Rican snakes (Savage 2002: 587).


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CommentType species: Liophis flavitorques COPE 1868: 307 is the type species of the genus Enulius COPE 1871.

Synonymy: Myers & McDowell (2014) suggested placing this genus in the synonymy of Enulius. The four species of Enulius (following Wallach et al. 2014) are the only New World dipsadines known to have the entire hemipenis covered with minute, uniform spinules. Placing Enuliophis, with its large hemipenial spines, in the synonymy of Enulius would eliminate that synapomorphy for Enulius (MCCRANIE 2015).

SIMILAR SPECIES: (I) Enulius sclateri has the snout blunt. (2) The several species of Geophis with light nuchal collars as juveniles do not have the light ventral coloration extending onto the lower body scales. (3) Similarly colored species of Ninia have keeled dorsal scales. (4) Trimetopon with a nuchal light collar have a single prefrontal shield (Savage 2002: 588). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin flavus, yellow, golden, gold colored and Latin torquis, collar/necklace of twisted metal. [“...Everywhere above dark brown, except a broad yellow half collar which crosses the posterior half of the occipital shields and two rows of scales...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024)

The genus was possibly named after Greek enulos (ἔνυλος), wooded. Cope did not provide an explanation though. 
References
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