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Epicrates maurus GRAY, 1849

IUCN Red List - Epicrates maurus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaBoidae (Boinae), Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Brown Rainbow Boa
G: Braune Regenbogenboa
S: Boa tornasol, Boa tornasol mamona, mapaná, morada, pintada
Portuguese: Salamanta 
SynonymEpicrates maurus GRAY 1849: 96
Cliftia fusca GRAY 1849: 99
Epicarsius cupreus FISCHER 1856: 96
Epicrates cupreus — JAN 1864
Epicrates cupreus var. concolor JAN 1863
Epicrates cenchria var. fusca — GRIFFIN 1916: 168
Epicrates cenchria maurus — STULL 1935: 238
Epicrates cenchria barbouri STULL 1938: 300
Epicrates cenchria maurus — STULL 1935
Epicrates cenchria maurus — TAYLOR 1951: 30
Epicrates cenchria maurus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970
Epicrates cenchria maurus — FREIBERG 1982
Epicrates maurus — CHIPPAUX 1987: 37
Epicrates maurus — STARACE 1998: 105
Epicrates maurus — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Epicrates cenchria maurus — BOOS 2001: 64
Epicrates cenchria — SOLORZANO 2004
Epicrates maurus colombianus MATZ 2005
Epicrates maurus guyanensis MATZ 2005
Epicrates maurus — MATZ 2005
Epicrates maurus — PASSOS & FERNANDES 2008
Epicrates maurus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 273
Epicrates maurus — REYNOLDS & HENDERSON 2018: 21
Epicrates maurus — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionCosta Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela (Merida, Cojedes), Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, N Brazil (Pará: HR 33: 67), Trinidad, Tobago, Isla Margarita, French Guiana.

Type locality: “Venezuela”

colombianus: Colombia, NW Venezuela, W Panama, Costa Rica. Type locality: Comomia, without exact locality.

guyanensis: French Guiana, Suriname. Type locality: Mana, Guyane francaise.  
Reproductionovoviviparous; there is evidence for parthenogenesis in this species (BOOTH et al. 2011). 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.10.40, adult male
Holotype: lost (presumed) [fusca]
Holotype: MCZ 22442 [barbouri]
Holotype: MNHN-RA 2000.4319 [colombianus]
Holotype: MNHN-RA 2000.4291 [guayanensis]
Holotype: ZMH R08256 [Epicarsius cupreus]
Holotype: ZMH R20170 [Epicrates cupreus var. concolor] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Distinguished from all continental species of Epicrates by having: (1) lateral stripe of the body with four scales width, (2) irregular lateral ocelli in juvenile and indistinct in adults specimens, (3) dorsal ground color yellow to light brown in juveniles and uniform brown in adults, with noticeable ontogenetic change of coloration. Additionally, E. maurus differ from E. cenchria, E. assisi, and E. alvarezi by having hemipenis length (in situ). 13 subcaudal scales long; from E. cenchria and E. alvarezi, by having barely conspicuous parietal crest and reduced alary process of vomer; from E. cenchria, by having ventral scales, 245; from E. crassus, by having subcaudal scales generally . 50. Refer to Tables 6–7 for additional diagnostic features of the continental Epicrates. 
CommentSynonymy mostly after PASSOS & FERNANDES 2008.

Habitat: in open areas (savannahs) in Suriname. Semi-arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Distribution: Not in Nicaragua fide Sunyer & Martínez-Fonseca 2023 (checklist Nicaragua). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin maurus, Greek μαυρός, darken, black; also Moor; inhabitant of North Africa; from Mauritania. (GRAY 1849, Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
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