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Xenopholis scalaris (WUCHERER, 1861)

IUCN Red List - Xenopholis scalaris - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Wucherer's Ground Snake
Portuguese: Falsa-Coral, Jararaquinha-do-Igapó 
SynonymElapomorphus scalaris WUCHERER 1861: 325
Elapomorphus scalaris WUCHERER 1862: 318
Xenopholis Braconnieri PETERS 1869: 441
Gerrhosteus prosopis COPE 1874: 71
Elapomorphus scalaris — STRAUCH 1884: 573
Sympeltophis ungalioides WERNER 1925: 52 (fide SMITH 1928)
Xenopholis scalaris — PETERS 1960
Xenopholis scalaris — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970
Xenopholis scalaris — BAUER et al. 1995: 75
Xenopholis scalaris — LEHR 2002: 98
Xenopholis scalaris — JANSEN et al. 2009
Xenopholis scalaris — WALLACH et al. 2014: 803
Xenopholis scalaris — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionBolivia (Amazonas), N Peru (Amazonas, Pasco etc.), Ecuador (Amazonas),
Brazil (Amazonas, Pará, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco), French Guiana [Vidal et al. 1998], Colombia, Venezuela

Type locality: Canavieras, Matta de Sao Joao, Brazil.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntype: BMNH 1946.1.8.60
Syntype: ANSP 11359; Peru, Nauta [prosopis] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy partly after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970. Not listed by GASC & RODRIGUES 1980. The photo labeled Xenopholis scalaris in CAMPBELL & LAMAR (2004) (an Amazonian species) actually shows X. undulatus.

Characteristics (genus): The most distinctive character of Xenopholis is their dorsally-expanded vertebrae (Boulenger 1896; Hoge and Federsoni 1975).

Type species: Elapomorphus scalaris WUCHERER 1861: 325 is the type species of the genus Xenopholis PETERS 1869. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin scalaris, of or belonging to a flight of steps or a ladder. (PETERS 1869, Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024)

The genus was named after Greek xenos (ξένος), strange, unusual + Greek phlos (φολίς), horny scale. 
References
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