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Oxybelis brevirostris (COPE, 1861)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Cope's Vine Snake 
SynonymDryophis brevirostris COPE 1861: 555
Oxybelis coerulescens JAN 1863: 88
Oxybelis brevirostris — BOULENGER 1896: 190
Oxybelis brevirostris — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 228
Oxybelis brevirostris — VILLA et al. 1988
Oxybelis brevirostris — SAVAGE 2002: 677
Oxybelis brevirostris — WALLACH et al. 2014: 515
Oxybelis brevirostris — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023 
DistributionHonduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama,
W Colombia (incl. Valle del Cauca), W Ecuador

Type locality: Veraguas, New Grenada [= Coeuyas de Veragua, Panama.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 31349 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: This relatively uncommon uniform green narrow-headed, elongate vine snake is unlikely to be confused with any other form except its larger ally Oxybelis fulgidus. Oxybelis brevirostris differs most obviously from the latter species in having an acuminate snout and lacking a pair of ventral light stripes (in O. fulgidus the snout is pointed and projecting and ventral light stripes are present). O. brevirostris differs from all other Costa Rican species that have the dorsum and venter green in its attenuate head and elongate body and tail. The prefrontals and the frontal plate are extremely long and narrow compared with those of any other snake in the republic, except the gray to brown Oxybelis aeneus (which has extremely elongate internasal, prefrontal, frontal, and supraocular shields) and O. fulgidus (which has extremely elongate internasal and frontal shields). (Savage 2002)


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CommentSynonymy that of PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

Similar species: Leptophis depressirostris, Oxybelis fulgidus, Drymobius melanotropis.

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

 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “brevis, -e” = short and “rostrum” = beak, proboscis, trunk. 
References
  • Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Castro-Herrera, F. & Vargas-Salinas, F. 2008. Anfibios y reptiles en el departamento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Biota Colombiana 9 (2): 251 - 277 - get paper here
  • CASTRO-HERRERA, FERNANDO; ANYELET VALENCIA-AGUILAR, DIEGO VILLAQUIRAN-Martínez 2012. Diversidad de Anfibios y Reptiles del Parque Nacional Natural Isla Gorgona. Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, 112 pp. - get paper here
  • CISNEROS-HEREDIA, D. F. & TOUZET, J.-M. 2007. Ecuadorian distribution of snakes of the genera Oxybelis WAGLER, 1830 and Xenoxybelis MACHADO, 1993 [Short Note]. Herpetozoa 19 (3/4): 188-189 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1861. Catalogue of the Colubrids in the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Part 3. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 12 [1860]: 553-566 - get paper here
  • Cortés Gómez, Angela María; Anyelet Valencia Aguilar, Diana Marcela Torres Domínguez, Lina María García Calderón, Diego Fernando Villaquirán Martínez, Andrea del Pilar Cáceres Franco, Fernando Castro Herrera 2010. Guía de los anfibios y reptiles. Área en conservación de la microcuenca Quebrada Pericos. [Valle de Cauca, Colombia]. Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca, Santiago de Cali: CVC, 37 pp. - get paper here
  • Cruz D., G. A., & WILSON, L. D. 1986. Oxybelis brevirostris (Cope): An addition to the snake fauna of Honduras. Herpetological Review 17: 7-8. - get paper here
  • Cruz-García, Keyko & Andrea E. Narváez 2024. Herpetofauna Diversity and Habitat Use Assessment in Two Remnant Forests of Western Ecuador South American Journal of Herpetology Dec 2024 Vol. 33, No. 1: 1-9 - get paper here
  • Fuentes, Rogemif; Aschcroft, Jesse; Erick Barría, Helio Quintero-Arrieta, Alexis Baules, Abel Batista, Eduardo Zambrano, Marcos Ponce 2023. Herpetological diversity in forests of Portobelo National Park, Colón Biological Corridor, Panama. Reptiles & Amphibians 30 (1): e18434 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Henderson, C.L. 2010. Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica - A field guide. University of Texas Press, Austin, 198 pp.
  • Hilje B, Chaves G, Klank J, Timmerman F, Feltham J, Gillingwater S, Piraino T, Rojas E 2020. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve: a baseline for conservation, research and environmental education in a lowland tropical wet forest in Costa Rica. Check List 16(6): 1633-1655 - get paper here
  • Jadin, R.C., Blair, C., Jowers, M.J., Carmona, A., Murphy, J.C. 2019. Hiding in the lianas of the tree of life: molecular phylogenetics and species delimitation reveal considerable cryptic diversity of New World Vine Snakes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1863. Elenco Sistematico degli Ofidi descriti e disegnati per l'Iconografia Generale. Milano, A. Lombardi. vii + 143 pp. - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • McCranie J R 2011. The snakes of Honduras. SSAR, Salt Lake City, 725 pp.
  • McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here
  • Montgomery, Chad E.; Karen R. Lips, and Julie M. Ray 2011. Ontogenetic Shift in Height of Sleeping Perches of Cope's Vine Snake, Oxybelis brevirostris. Southwestern Naturalist 56 (3): 358-362. - get paper here
  • Nicholson, Kirsten E., James R. McCranie and Gunther Köhler 2000. Herpetofaunal expedition to Parque Nacional Patuca: a newly established park in Honduras. Herpetological Bulletin (72): 26-31. - get paper here
  • Pérez-Santos, C. E. 1986. Zoogeografía de los Ophidia en Colombia. Univ. Complutense, Madrid, 2 vols., 971 pp.
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Peters , J. A. 1960. The snakes of Ecuador; check list and key. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 122: 489-541 - get paper here
  • Peters, James A.; Donoso-Barros, Roberto & Orejas-Miranda, Braulio 1970. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part I Snakes. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 297: 347 pp. - get paper here
  • Pinto-Erazo, M.A., Calderón-Espinosa, M.L., Medina-Rangel, G.F. & Méndez-Galeano, M.A. 2020. Herpetofauna from two municipalities of southwestern Colombia. Biota Colombiana 21(1): 41-57. DOI: 10.21068/c2020.v21n01a04 - get paper here
  • Ray, Julie M. and Patty Ruback 2015. Updated checklists of snakes for the provinces of Panamá and Panamá Oeste, Republic of Panama. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (2): 168-188 - get paper here
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  • Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1951. A brief review ot the snakes of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 34 (1): 3-188 - get paper here
  • Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D. 2019. Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich portal, with a dynamic checklist and photographic guides. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1): [General Section]: 209–229 (e178) - get paper here
  • Valencia-Zuleta A, Jaramillo-Martínez AF, Echeverry-Bocanegra A, Viáfara-Vega R, Hernández-Córdoba O, Cardona-Botero VE, Gutiérrez-Zúñiga J, Castro-Herrera F. 2014. Conservation status of the herpetofauna, protected areas, and current problems in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 8 (2): 1–18 (e87) - get paper here
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