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Rhadinella godmani (GÜNTHER, 1865)

IUCN Red List - Rhadinella godmani - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesRhadinella godmani godmani (GÜNTHER 1865)
Rhadinella godmani zilchi (MERTENS 1952) 
Common NamesE: Godman's Graceful Brown Snake
S: Lagartijerita de Gadman 
SynonymDromicus godmanni [sic] GÜNTHER 1865: 94
Rhadinaea godmani — COPE 1876: 139
Coronella godmani GÜNTHER 1893: 110 (justified emendation)
Rhadinaea altamontana TAYLOR 1954 (fide VILLA et al. 1988)
Rhadinaea binfordi ROSSMAN 1965
Rhadinaea godmani — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 265
Rhadinaea godmani — MYERS 1974: 122
Rhadinaea godmani — LINER 1994
Rhadinaea godmani — LINER 2007
Rhadinella godmani — MYERS 2011
Rhadinella godmani — WALLACH et al. 2014: 642
Rhadinella godmani — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023

Rhadinaea godmani zilchi MERTENS 1952
Rhadinaea zilchi MERTENS 1952: 92
Rhadinaea godmani zilchi — MERTENS 1952: 70
Rhadinaea godmani zilchi — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 265
Rhadinella godmani zilchi — MYERS 2011 (by implication) 
DistributionSE Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca), Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, (elevation 1450-2160 m), El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama

Type locality: Dueñas, [Departamento de Sacatepequez], Guatemala.

zilchi: El Salvador; Type locality: Lagua de Las Ninfas, 1630 m. elevaion, Dept. Sonsonate.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.1.9.17
Holotype: SMF 43175, male [zilchi] 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS: Rhadinaea godmani is almost always distinguishable from all of its congeners by the presence of 21-21-21 dorsal scales, a higher number than found elsewhere in the genus. The species is likely to be confused in this regard only with the geographically adjacent (possibly sympatric in Chiapas) R. hempsteadae; some specimens of hempsteadae have 19-21-19 scale rows instead of the usual 19-19-19 rows, and one specimen of godmani has 19-21-1 7 rows. Color patterns and other features are not identical, but there is sufficient variational overlap between godmani and hempsteadae so that specimens with aberrant scale counts are best assigned on the basis of geographic range if possible. The body pattern of most Costa Rican specimens of godmani is virtually identical with that of individuals from possibly sympatric populations of R. serperaster, which is most easily differentiated from southern godmani in seemingly constant differences in number of dorsal scales (19-19-19 in serperaster) (Myers 1974: 123).


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CommentSynonymy and subspecies after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970, MYERS 1974, and VILLA et al. 1988. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Frederick du Cane Godman (1834-1919), a British naturalist who compiled the Biologia Centrali Americana with his friend Osbert Salvin.

R. g. zilchi was named after Dr. Adolf Zilch, who collected the types and many other specimens in El Salvador in 1951. 
References
  • Aguilar-López JL, Luría-Manzano R, Pineda E, Canseco-Márquez L 2021. Selva Zoque, Mexico: an important Mesoamerican tropical region for reptile species diversity and conservation. ZooKeys 1054: 127-153 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Casas-Andreu, G., F.R. Méndez-De la Cruz and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2004. Anfibios y Reptiles; pp. 375–390, in A.J.M. García-Mendoza, J. Ordoñez and M. Briones-Salas (ed.). Biodiversidad de Oaxaca. Instituto de Biología, UNAM-Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza-World Wildlife Fund, México, D. F.
  • Clause, Justin K. 2016. Distribution Notes. Rhadinaea (Rhadinella) godmani (Günther, 1865). Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 199 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1875. On the Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica with notes on the herpetology and ichthyology of Nicaragua and Peru. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia N.S. (2) 8: 93-183 [sometimes said to be published 1876 but see Murphy et al. 2007 for clarification]] - get paper here
  • Guerra Centeno, Dennis; Héctor Fuentes Rousselin & David Morán Villatoro 2012. Serpientes de Guatemala: Guía para didentificación de especies. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, 186 pp.
  • Günther, A. 1865. Fourth account of new Species of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 15: 89-98. - get paper here
  • Günther, A. C. L. G. 1885. Reptilia and Batrachia. Biologia Centrali-Américana. Taylor, & Francis, London, 326 pp. [published in parts from 1885-1902; reprint by the SSAR 1987] - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
  • Johnson, Jerry D.; Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García Padilla, and Larry David Wilson 2015. The Herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (3): 272–329. - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Liner, Ernest A. 2007. A CHECKLIST OF THE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MEXICO. Louisiana State University Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science 80: 1-60 - get paper here
  • Loza, J. C., L. Gutiérrez, M. Salazar-Saavedra, J. G. Martínez-Fonseca, M. Fernández and J. Sunyer. 2017. First record of Rhadinella godmani (Reptilia: Squamata: Dipsadidae) from Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (2): 476–478 - get paper here
  • Mata-Silva, Vicente, Jerry D. Johnson, Larry David Wilson and Elí García-Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (1): 6–62 - get paper here
  • McCranie J R 2006. New species of snake of the colubrid genus Rhadinaea (godmani group) from Parque Nacional El Cusuco, Honduras. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 119 (4): 528–533. - get paper here
  • McCranie J R 2011. The snakes of Honduras. SSAR, Salt Lake City, 725 pp.
  • McCranie J R; Wilson L D 1992. Rhadinaea godmani. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles 546: 1-3 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Mendelson, J.R. & D.A. Kizirian 1995. Geographic variation in Rhadinaea hempsteadae (Serpentes: Colubridae) with the description of a new species from Chiapas, Mexico. Herpetologica 51 (3): 301-313. - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1952. Die Amphibien und Reptilien von El Salvador. Abh. senckenb. naturf. Ges. (Frankfurt) (No. 487): 120 pp.
  • Mertens, R. 1952. Neues über die Reptilienfauna von El Salvador. Zool. Anz. 148: 87-93
  • MURPHY R. W., SMITH A. and NGO A. 2007. The versions of Cope's Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 7 (1): - get paper here
  • Myers, C.W. 1974. The systematics of Rhadinaea (Colubridae), a genus of New World snakes. Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist. 153 (1): 1-262 - get paper here
  • Myers, Charles W. 2011. A New Genus and New Tribe for Enicognathus melanauchen Jan, 1863, a Neglected South American Snake (Colubridae: Xenodontinae), with Taxonomic Notes on Some Dipsadinae. American Museum Novitates (3715): 1-33 - 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
  • Rossman, Douglas A. 1965. Two new colubrid snakes of the genus Rhadinaea from southern Mexico. Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology, Louisiana State University (32): 1-8 - get paper here
  • Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
  • Solís, J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with comments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 123–144 - get paper here
  • Solorzano, A. 2004. Serpientes de Costa Rica - Snakes of Costa Rica. Editorial INBio, Costa Rica, 792 pp.
  • Stuart, L.C. 1951. The herpetofauna of the Guatemalan Plateau, with special reference to its distribution on the Southwestern Highlands. Contributions from the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology, University of Michigan (49): 1-71 - 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. 1954. Further studies on the serpents of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 36: 673-800. - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wilson, Larry David;Meyer, John R. 1972. Rhadinaea godmani, an addition to the snake fauna of Honduras. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 71 (1): 50-52
 
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