| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Striped glasstail |
| Synonym | Tachymenis decipiens — GÜNTHER 1895 (preoccupied)
Rhadinaea persimilis DUNN 1938 (nomen praeoccupatum)
Rhadinaea güntheri DUNN 1938 (nom. subst. pro T. decipiens)
Rhadinaea guentheri — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 265
Rhadinaea guentheri — MYERS 1974: 182
Rhadinaea guentheri — VILLA et al. 1988
Urotheca guentheri — SAVAGE & CROTHER 1989
Urotheca guentheri — SAVAGE 2002: 645
Urotheca guentheri — WALLACH et al. 2014: 783 |
| Distribution | Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras
Type locality: “Irazu, Costa Rica” [= Volcán Irazú, N Cartago or E San José Prov., Costa Rica, ca. 9°59’N, 83°51’W] (lectotype locality)
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| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: BMNH 1946.1.8.15 (the best preserved syntype), designated by MYERS 1974: 182; paralectotypes (former syntypes): BMNH 1946.1.8.13-1946.1.8.15. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: MYERS 1974: 182
U. guentheri from Darien: “a young male measuring 220.77 mm in snout–vent length (SVL), 46.41 mm in tail length (T), and 367.18 mm in total length (TL), corresponding to a TL/SVL ratio of 0.66 and a T/TL proportion of 0.39; dorsal scale rows 17-17-17, ventrals 140, and paired subcaudals 102; the head scutellation (view from left side) consists of an enlarged supra- ocular, 1 preocular, and 1 subpreocular fused between corners of 3rd and 4th supralabials on the left side (Fig. 1D) and 1 preocular on the right side, 2 postoculars, 1 loreal (Fig. 1D), 1 frontal, 2 prefrontals (Fig. 1C), 2 internasals, pre- and postnasal divided, 1 enlarged rostral, 2 parietals (Fig. 1C), temporal formula 1–2+1 (Fig. 1D), labials 9 on the right side and 8 on the left, and 8 infralabials covered with white on their lower surface resemble a white infral- abial stripe on each side (Fig. 1D); coloration (in life)––dorsum dark brown with 2 stripes, a lower white stripe on 1st and 2nd scale rows, and an upper pinkish-beige stripe on 5th and 6th scale rows (Fig. 1A, D); in the neck region, the lower stripe fuses with the infralabials (Fig. 1D), and the upper stripe starts posterior to post-temporals (Fig. 1D); paravertebral scales rows olive green, forming a paravertebral stripe of this color (Fig. 1A, C); surface area between lower and upper lateral stripes darker than that between upper lateral stripes (Fig. 1A, D); 3 white ocelli present, one on the lower end of each parietal scale and the other covering 3rd and 4th paravertebral scales (Fig. 1C, D); and venter reddish orange in life, but turned paler in preservative (Fig. 1B).” (Elizondon 2016) |
| Comment | Synonymy: The specific name is preoccupied by Ablabes decipiens GÜNTHER. Rhadinaea persimilis DUNN 1938 is pre-occupied by Taeniophallus persimilis (COPE 1868)(Brazil). |
| Etymology | Named after Albert Günther (1830-1914), German-born zoologist at the British Museum. |
| References |
- Bartuano, A. S., Ibáñez D., R. & Guerrel, J. 2012. Geographic distribution: Urotheca guentheri (striped glass-tailed snake). Herpetological Review 43: 310 - 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
- Cossel, John O., Jr. 2014. Urotheca guentheri (striped glasstail) antipredator defense. Herpetological Review 45 (3): 521-522 - get paper here
- Dunn,E.R. 1938. A New Rhadinaea from Central America. Copeia 1938 (4): 197-198 - get paper here
- Elizondo, Luis. 2016. Urotheca guentheri in Darién, Panama, at the northern extreme of the Chocó Biogeographic Region. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (2): 536-539 - 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
- 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
- McCranie,J.R.; Wilson,L.D. & Gotte,S.W. 2001. Three new country records for Handuran snakes. Herpetological Review 32: 62-63 - get paper here
- Myers, C W. Cadle J E. 1994. A new genus for South American snakes related to Rhadinaea obtusa Cope (Colubridae) and resurrection of Taeniophallus Cope for the "Rhadinaea" brevirostris group. American Museum Novitates (3102): 1-33 - 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
- O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - 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
- Salazar, Milton and Marco Barquero 2012. First country records for Urotheca decipiens and Urotheca pachyura and range extensions of Urotheca guentheri in Nicaragua. Herpetological Bulletin (121): 33-35 - 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]
- Savage,J.M. & Crother,B.I. 1989. The status of Pliocercus and Urotheca (Serpentes: Colubridae), with a review of included species of coral snake mimics. Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 95: 335-362 - get paper here
- 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.
- Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
- Villa, J., Wilson, L.D., Johnson, J.D. 1988. Middle American Herpetology - A Bibliographic Checklist. University of Missouri Press, 132 pp [review in Copeia 1989 (3): 802]
- 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.
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