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Erythrolamprus melanotus (SHAW, 1802)

IUCN Red List - Erythrolamprus melanotus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesErythrolamprus melanotus lamari (DIXON & MICHAUD 1992)
Erythrolamprus melanotus nesos (DIXON & MICHAUD 1992)
Erythrolamprus melanotus melanotus (SHAW 1802) 
Common NamesE: Dark Groundsnake, Shaw's Dark Ground Snake 
SynonymColuber Melanotus SHAW 1802: 534
Coluber (Natrix) raninus MERREM 1820: 106
Coluber vittatus HALLOWELL 1845: 242
Liophis melanonotus — COPE 1860 (replacement name for melanotus SHAW)
Dromicus melanotus — GARMAN 1887: 282
Lemiadophis melanotus — BARBOUR 1916 (in error)
Aporophis crucifer AHL 1925: 271
Leimadophis melanotus — AMARAL 1929: 166
Leimadophis melanotus — DUNN 1944: 487
Leimadophis melanotus — ROZE 1964
Leimadophis melanotus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 144
Leimadophis melanotus — KRINTLER 1982
Liophis melanotus — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 624
Liophis melanotus — DIXON & MICHAUD 1992
Liophis melanotus melanotus — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Liophis melanotus — RUEDA-SOLANO & CASTELLANOS- BARLIZA 2010
Liophis melanotus — UGUETO & RIVAS 2010
Erythrolamprus melanotus — GRAZZIOTIN et al. 2012
Liophis melanotus — BLANCO-TORRES et al. 2013
Liophis melanotus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 383
Liophis melanotus — DUBOIS et al. 2024

Erythrolamprus melanotus lamari (DIXON & MICHAUD 1992)
Liophis melanotus lamari DIXON & MICHAUD 1992: 255
Liophis melanotus lamari — ESQUEDA et al. 2007

Erythrolamprus melanotus nesos (DIXON & MICHAUD 1992)
Liophis melanotus nesos DIXON & MICHAUD 1992: 256
Liophis melanotus nesos — BOOS 2001
Erythrolamprus melanotus nesos — AUGUSTE 2019 
DistributionColombia, Venezuela (Cojedes), Isla Margarita, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, Lesser Antilles

Type locality: Cape of Good Hope, Africa (in error)

lamari: Venezuela (Zulia)

nesos: Trinidad  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: Unlocated.
Holotype: TCWC 61974 (Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection 61974), an adult female, taken by Richard M. Robinson (about 1970) [lamari]
Holotype: USNM 166717, taken on 7 November 1967, by Eric Billings [nesos] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1419 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy modified after DIXON & MICHAUD 1992. Two dubious records of a fifth species, L. melanotus, occurring on Grenada are probably dismissible (Henderson, 1992).

Diet: microteiid lizards in the genus Bachia, frogs (Pristimantis urichi, Engystomops pustulosus), geckos (Gonatodes vittatus), fish (Murphy et al. 2019) 
EtymologyNamed after Greek melanos (μέλανος), black + Greek notos (νοτος), back, dorsum. [“...Black baked snake...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024)

E. m. nesos was named after Greek nesos = island.

E. m. lamari was named after William W. Lamar, “a friend and colleague who spent several years in Colombia, and who has helped us in many ways, including with taxonomic problems concerning Colombian reptiles.” 
References
  • Acuña-Vargas, J. C. 2016. Anfibios y Reptiles asociados a cinco coberturas de la tierra, municipio de Dibulla, La Guajira, Colombia. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n. s.), 32(2): 133-146 - get paper here
  • Ahl, E. 1925. Über zwei neue Schlangen des zoolog. Museums Berlin. Zool. Anz. 63: 271-272
  • Amaral,A. do 1930. Estudos sobre ophidios neotropicos XVIII. Lista remissiva dos ophidios da região neotropica. Mem. Inst. Butantan 4: 126-271 [1929] - get paper here
  • Auguste, Renoir J. 2019. Herpetofaunal checklist for six pilot protected areas in Trinidad and Tobago. Herpetology Notes 12: 577-585 - get paper here
  • Barbour, T. 1916. Amphibians and reptiles of Tobago. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 29: 221-224 - get paper here
  • Blanco-Torres, Argelina; Lina Báez S., Edgar Patiño-Flores, Juan M. Renjifo-R. 2013. Herpetofauna from the middle valley of the Ranchería river, La Guajira, Colombia. Rev. Biodivers. Neotrop. 3 (2): 113-22 - get paper here
  • Boos, H.E.A. 2001. The snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, 270 pp.
  • Cope, E.D. 1860. Catalogue of the Colubridae in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part II. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 241-266 - get paper here
  • Díaz-Flórez, Ronald A. 2023. DECIPHERING AN ENIGMA: FIRST RECORD OF ERYTHROLAMPRUS AENIGMA (SQUAMATA: DIPSADIDAE) IN COLOMBIA. Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología 6 (2): 167-173 - get paper here
  • Dixon J R. & MICHAUD E J. 1992. Shaw's ablack-backed snake (Liophis melanotus) (Serpentes: Caolubridae) of Northern South America. Journal of Herpetology 26 (3): 250-259. - get paper here
  • Dixon, James R. 1989. A key and checklist to the neotropical snake genus Liophis with country lists and maps. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (79): 1-40 - get paper here
  • Dubois, A., Denzer, W., Entiauspe-Neto, O. M., Frétey, T., Ohler, A., Bauer, A. M., & Pyron, A. 2024. Nomenclatural problems raised by the recent description of a new anaconda species (Squamata, Serpentes, Boidae), with a nomenclatural review of the genus Eunectes. Bionomina 37: 8-58 - get paper here
  • Dunn, E.R. 1944. A revision of the Colombian snakes of the genera Leimadophis, Lygophis, Liophis, Rhadinaea, and Pliocercus, with a note on Colombian Coniophanes. Caldasia 2 (10): 479-495 - get paper here
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  • Gorzula, Stefan & Senaris, J. Celsa 1999. In: Contribution to the herpetofauna of the Venezuelan Guayana. I: a data base. Scientia Guaianae, Caracas, No. 8 [1998], 269+ pp.; ISBN 980-6020-48-0
  • Grazziotin, Felipe G.; Hussam Zaher, Robert W. Murphy, Gustavo Scrocchi, Marco A. Benavides, Ya-Ping Zhang and Sandro L. Bonatto 2012. Molecular phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal. Cladistics DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00393.x - get paper here
  • Guerrero, Ricardo; Rodriguez-Acosta, Alexis 2014. Primer reporte de infestación de la serpiente reinita (Liophis melanotus melanotus Shaw, 1802) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) por el ácaro (Amblyomma dissimile, Koch, 1844) (Acarina:Ixodidae) en Venezuela. Cuad. Herpetol. 28: - get paper here
  • Hallowell, E. 1845. Descriptions of reptiles from South America, supposed to be new. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad., 2: 241-247 - get paper here
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  • Lancini,A.R. & Kornacker,P.M. 1989. Die Schlangen von Venezuela. Armitano Editores C.A., Caracas, 1-381
  • Markezich, A.L. 2002. New distribution records of reptiles from Western Venezuela. Herpetological Review 33 (1): 69-74 - get paper here
  • Merrem, B. 1820. Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien I (Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum). J. C. Kriegeri, Marburg, 191 pp. - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1972. Herpetofauna tobagana. Stuttgarter Beitr. zur Naturkunde nr. 252 22 pp. - get paper here
  • Murphy JC, Braswell AL, Charles SP, Auguste RJ, Rivas GA, Borzée A, Lehtinen RM, Jowers MJ 2019. A new species of Erythrolamprus from the oceanic island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae). ZooKeys 817: 131-157 - get paper here
  • Murphy, John C.; John C. Weber, Michael J. Jowers, and Robert C. Jadin 2023. Two Islands, Two Origins: The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. In: Lillywhite & Martins, eds., Islands and snakes, vol. II. Oxford University Press, p. 81 ff - get paper here
  • Natera-Mumaw, Marco; Luis Felipe Esqueda-González & Manuel Castelaín-Fernández 2015. Atlas Serpientes de Venezuela. Santiago de Chile, Dimacofi Negocios Avanzados S.A., 456 pp. - get paper here
  • Páez, V.P. et al. 2002. Guía de campo de algunas especies de anfibios y reptiles de Antioquia. Universidad de Antioquia, - get paper here
  • Pedroza-Banda, Raúl; Jhon Jairo Ospina-Sarria, Teddy Angarita-Sierra, Marvin Anganoy-Criollo, John D. Lynch 2014. Estado de la fauna de anfibios y reptiles del Casanare Ciencias naturales Estado del conocimiento de la fauna de anfibios y reptiles del departamento de Casanare, Colombia. Rev. Acad. Colomb. Cienc. 38 (146): 17-34 - get paper here
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
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  • Rivas Fuenmayor, G.; Ugueto, G.; Rivero, R. & Miralles, A. 2005. The Herpetofauna of Isla de Margarita, Venezuela: New Records and Comments. Carib. J. Sci. 41 (2): 346-351
  • Rivas Fuenmayor, Gilson and Cesar Luis Barrio Amorós 2005. New Amphibian and Reptile records from Cojedes State, Venezuela. Herpetological Review 36 (2):205-209. - get paper here
  • RIVAS, GILSON A.; CÉSAR R. MOLINA, GABRIEL N. UGUETO, TITO R. BARROS, CÉSAR L. BAR- RIO-AMORÓS & PHILIPPE J. R. KOK 2012. Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist. Zootaxa 3211: 1–64 - get paper here
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