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Boiruna maculata (BOULENGER, 1896)

IUCN Red List - Boiruna maculata - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mussurana
G: Mussurana
Portuguese: Cobra-de-Leite, Cobra-Preta, Coral (juvenil), Coral-Falsa, Limpa-Mato, Limpa-Pasto, Mamadeira, Muçurana, Muçurana-Comum, Mussurana 
SynonymBrachyruton occipito-luteum DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 1009
Brachyrhytum occipitoluteum — BOETTGER 1885: 236
Oxyropus [sic] maculatus BOULENGER 1896
Pseudoboa occipitolutea — SERIÉ 1936
Clelia occipitolutea — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970
Clelia occipitolutea — SCOTT & LOVETT 1975
Clelia occipitolutea — FREIBERG 1982
Boiruna maculata — ZAHER 1996
Clelia occipitolutea — FRANCO et al. 1997
Boiruna maculata — LEYNAUD & BUCHER 1999: 15
Boiruna maculata — DOS SANTOS-COSTA et al. 2000
Boiruna maculata — CAMPOS NOGUEIRA 2001
Boiruna maculata — PIZZATTO 2005
Boiruna maculata — SCOTT et al. 2006
Boiruna maculata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 108
Boiruna maculata — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionS Bolivia, Brazil (W Mato Grosso do Sul, S Goias), N/W Argentina (Formosa, Santiago del Estero), Uruguay, Paraguay.

Type locality: Uruguay  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.9.33 (84.2.23.40) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): “A member of the tribe Pseudoboini. The following combination of traits distinguishes Boiruna from all other taxa of the tribe: (1) adults with subcaudal and ventral scales almost completely black except for the anterior region of the body; (2) juveniles with a black longitudinal stripe in the vertebral and paravertebral region; (3) presence of two parallel rows of well developed and large shallow calyces throughout the asulcate surface of the lobes; (4) a pair of weakly developed naked pockets in the lobular crotch; (5) absence of intrasulcar enlarged spines. The first feature is interpreted as a synapomorphy of Boiruna. However, some specimens of B. maculata from southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, show light cream venters. The taxonomic status of these southern populations remain to be analized. The second feature is present homoplastically in juveniles and subadults of other pseudoboine taxa as Clelia bicolor, Pseudoboa haasi, and Rhachidelus brazili (Zaher, 1994a). The last three features are plesiomorphic states for the Pseudoboini (Zaher, 1994a, 1996: 293).


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CommentSynonymy: Clelia occipitolutea has been synonymized with Clelia clelia clelia by Scrocci and Vinas (1990). However, FRANCO et al. (1997) argue that Clelia occipitolutea might be a valid species.

Type species: Boiruna maculata is the type species of the genus Boiruna Zaher, 1996.

The species of Clelia and Boiruna generally show a striking ontogenetic color change, from hatchlings with much orange or red to adults that are dark gray or black.

Distribution: has been reported from Central America, but these are apparently erroneous reports.

See ZAHER (1996) for the nomenclatural history of this species. 
EtymologyProbably named after color pattern in some specimens, possibly juveniles, which may show a different pattern than the adults. From Latin maculatus (spotted).

The genus has been named after the Tupi-Guarani “Mboi+r+ú [= which eats snakes) +una [= black]”, in allusion to the ophiophagous habits of these black snakes. 
References
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