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Trimorphodon biscutatus (DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL, 1854)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Western Lyre Snake, Costal Lyre Snake
G: Küsten-Lyraschlange
S: Ilamacoa de Noche 
SynonymDipsas bi-scutatus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 1153
Trimorphodon major COPE 1870: 153
Dipsadomorphus biscutatus — GÜNTHER 1858: 176
Trimorphodon biscutatus — COPE 1861: 297
Eteirodipsas biscutata — JAN 1863: 105 (part.)
Trimorphodon (Dipsas) biscutata — DUGÈS 1882: 145
Sibon biscutatum — GARMAN 1884: 16 (part.)
Trimorphodon biscutatum — DUGÈS 1893: 295
Trimorphodon biscutatus biscutatus — SMITH 1941: 159
Trimorphodon biscutatus semirutus — SMITH 1943: 492
Trimorphodon biscutatus semirutus SMITH 1943 (fide DUELLMAN 1954)
Trimorphodon biscutatus biscutatus — SCOTT & MCDIARMID 1984
Trimorphodon biscutatus — STEBBINS 1985: 220
Trimorphodon biscutatus — LINER 1994
Trimorphodon biscutatus — DEVITT et al. 2008
Trimorphodon biscutatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 744 
DistributionMexico (from the vicinity of the Río Purificación, Jalisco south along the Pacific Coast throughout Colima, Michoacan, Guerrero, extreme southern Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca, southwestern Chiapas to the vicinity of Tonalá, Veracruz), SW Guatemala (arid, interior valleys such as the upper Río Grijalva valley in the state of Huehuetenango)

Type locality: “Mexique”; restricted to Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 3900
Holotype: USNM 110410, also given as SDNHM = SDSNH [semirutus]
Syntypes: USNM 30427-9, male, male, female [major] 
Diagnosis 
CommentColor plate 74 in VILLA et al. 1988.

Synonymy partly after Scott & McDiarmid (1984); see also Devitt et al. 2008.

Subspecies: The subspecies T. biscutatus lambda COPE 1886, lyrophanes COPE 1860, quadruplex SMITH 1941, and vilkinsonii COPE 1886 have been elevated to full species status. Distribution not corrected for these elevations (i.e. the data for this species contains still the range of the subspecies).

Max. total length: > 1.5 m

Distribution: reports from Costa Rica (e.g. Solorzano 2004) apparently represent other species.

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

Diet: primarily lizards. 
EtymologyThe name biscutatus (Latin) probably refers to the doubled loreal plate (Scott & McDiarmid 1984) 
References
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