Erythrolamprus breviceps (COPE, 1860)

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Higher Taxa	Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Short Ground Snake E: Long Ground Snake [longiventris] Portuguese: Parelheira
Synonym	Liophis breviceps COPE 1860: 252 Liophis longiventris AMARAL 1925: 16 Liophis breviceps — BEEBE 1946: 34 Liophis canaima ROZE 1955: 188 (fide FERNANDES et al. 2002) Liophis breviceps — PETERS 1960 Liophis longiventris — VANZOLINI in PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1986: 14 Liophis canaima — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 Liophis breviceps canaima — DIXON 1983 Liophis breviceps — LANCINI & KORNACKER 1989 Liophis longiventris — CEI 1993 Liophis breviceps — KORNACKER 1999: 102 Liophis breviceps breviceps — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999 Liophis longiventris — FRANCA et al. 2006 Erythrolamprus longiventris — GRAZZIOTIN et al. 2012 Erythrolamprus breviceps — GRAZZIOTIN et al. 2012 Liophis longiventris — BERNARDE et al. 2012 Liophis breviceps — WALLACH et al. 2014: 380 Erythrolamprus breviceps — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 Erythrolamprus longiventris — PASSOS et al. 2025
Distribution	Suriname, NW Brazil (Pará [HR 32: 60]), Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, French Guiana, Guyana. Type locality: Suriname canaima: Venezuela; Type locality: Ugueto, Territorio Federal Roraima, Amazonas, Venezuela longiventris: Brazil (Mato Grosso, Rondonia), Argentina (CEI 1993: 754); Type locality: Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: ANSP 3967 Holotype: MNRJ 367 [longiventris]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Distinguished from all other members of Liophis cobella group by having usually seven supralabials (80%) and 16 or less maxillary teeth. It is further distinguished from L. frenata by having less than 183 ventral scales (from FERNANDES et al. 2002). Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 975 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Distribution: see map in Fernandes et al. 2002: 11 (Fig. 5). See map in Nogueira et al. 2019. Synonymy: Liophis longiventris has been synonymized with L. breviceps by FERNANDES et al. (2002). WALLACH et al. 2014 cite it as synonym of Liophis breviceps.
Etymology	Named after Latin “brevis, -e” = short and “-ceps”, a short form of “caput” = head.
References	Amaral, A. do 1925. Ophidios de Mato Grosso (Contribuição II para o conhecimento dos ophidios do Brasil). Comm. Linhas Telegraph. Estrat. Matto Grosso ao Amazonas. [also listed as Hist. Natural. Zool.] Publ. 84 (Anexo 5): 1-30 Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here Beebe, William 1946. Field notes on the snakes of Kartabo, British Guiana, and Caripito, Venezuela. Zoologica 31: 11-52 - get paper here Bentley AG, Reyes-Puig JP, Hidalgo AB, Altamirano JAH, Barragan-Paladines ME, Yánez-Muñoz MH, Almeida-Reinoso D, Guerra MA, Arboleda J, Culebras J, Fiallos Moreno DA, Sáenz J, Yoder PM, Best D, Vizcarra Vasconez RS, Peñafiel Flores MG, Franchini A, C 2025. Snake (Serpentes, Reptilia) diversity in Mera, Ecuador: a citizen‑science approach to surveying a biodiversity hotspot of the western Amazon. Check List 21(5): 945-969 - get paper here Bernal, R. 2025. Serpientes de Colombia-Guía de Campo. Serie de Guías Tropicales de Campo. 19: 396 pp. Conservación Internacional Colombia, Bogotá - get paper here BERNARDE, P.S., ALBUQUERQUE, S., BARROS, T.O. & TURCI, L.C.B. 2012. Serpentes do Estado de Rondônia, Brasil. Biota Neotropica 12 (3): 1-29 - get paper here Claessen, H. 2003. De slangen van de Guyanas Deel VI. Lacerta 61 (5): 177-187 - get paper here Cole, Charles J.; Carol R. Townsend, Robert P. Reynolds, Ross D. MacCulloch, and Amy Lathrop 2013. Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 125 (4): 317-578; plates: 580-620 - get paper here Cope, E.D. 1860. Catalogue of the Colubridae in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes and descriptions of new species. Part II. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12: 241-266 - get paper here Dixon, James R. 1989. A key and checklist to the neotropical snake genus Liophis with country lists and maps. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (79): 1-40 - get paper here Dixon,J.R. 1983. The Liophis cobella group of the neotropical snake genus Liophis. Journal of Herpetology 17 (2): 149-165 - get paper here Fernandes, D. S. ; Germano, V. J. ; Fernandes, R. ; Franco, F. L. 2002. Taxonomic status of the lowland species of the Liophis cobella group with comments on the species of the Venenzuelan Tepuis (Serpentes, Colubridae). Boletim do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 481: 1-14 Fraga, R., Lima, A. P., Prudente, A. L. C., & Magnusson, W. E. 2013. Guia de cobras da região de Manaus – Amazônia Central. Manaus: INPA - get paper here Franca, F.G.R.; Mesquita, Daniel Oliveira and Guarino Rinaldi Colli 2006. A CHECKLIST OF SNAKES FROM AMAZONIAN SAVANNAS IN BRAZIL, HOUSED IN THE COLEÇÃO HERPETOLÓGICA DA UNIVERSIDADE DE BRASÍLIA, WITH NEW DISTRIBUTION RECORDS. Occ. Pap. Oklahoma Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Oklahoma 17: 1-13 Gonzalez R. C. et al. 2020. Lista dos Nomes Populares dos Répteis no Brasil – Primeira Versão. Herpetologia Brasileira 9 (2): 121 – 214 - get paper here Gorzula, Stefan & Senaris, J. Celsa 1999. In: Contribution to the herpetofauna of the Venezuelan Guayana. I: a data base. Scientia Guaianae, Caracas, No. 8 [1998], 269+ pp.; ISBN 980-6020-48-0 Grazziotin, Felipe G.; Hussam Zaher, Robert W. Murphy, Gustavo Scrocchi, Marco A. Benavides, Ya-Ping Zhang and Sandro L. Bonatto 2012. Molecular phylogeny of the New World Dipsadidae (Serpentes: Colubroidea): a reappraisal. Cladistics DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2012.00393.x - get paper here Lancini,A.R. & Kornacker,P.M. 1989. Die Schlangen von Venezuela. Armitano Editores C.A., Caracas, 1-381 Martins, M. & Oliveira, M.E. 1998. Natural history of snakes in forests of the Manaus region, central Amazonia, Brazil. Herpetological Natural History 6: 78-150 - get paper here MENDES-PINTO, TELÊMACO JASON; Mestrando, BERNHARD, RAFAEL, VOGT, RICHARD; PEDRETT, RONNEZZA CÉLLIA LOBATO CAMPOS;GARCIA, RAUBER SANTOS 2011. A COLLECTION OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH OF THE AMAZON. Rev. Colombiana cienc. Anim. 3(2): 238 - get paper here Morato de Carvalho, C. et al. 2021. VERTEBRADOS TERRESTRES DE RORAIMA BIOLOGIA GERAL E EXPERIMENTAL 20/21 (1): - get paper here Natera-Mumaw, Marco; Luis Felipe Esqueda-González & Manuel Castelaín-Fernández 2015. Atlas Serpientes de Venezuela. Santiago de Chile, Dimacofi Negocios Avanzados S.A., 456 pp. - get paper here Nogueira, Cristiano C.; Antonio J.S. Argôlo, Vanesa Arzamendia, Josué A. Azevedo, Fausto E. Barbo, Renato S. Bérnils, Bruna E. Bolochio, Marcio Borges-Martins, Marcela Brasil-Godinho, Henrique Braz, Marcus A. Buononato, Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, 2019. Atlas of Brazilian snakes: verified point-locality maps to mitigate the Wallacean shortfall in a megadiverse snake fauna. South American J. Herp. 14 (Special Issue 1):1-274 - get paper here PASSOS, P., RODRIGUES, R., PINNA, P. H., WOITOVICZ-CARDOSO, M. A. N. O. E. L. A., FERNANDES, R., & CARAMASCHI, U. 2025. Filling gaps between museum and society: An illustrated catalog of the primary type specimens of Squamata housed in the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Zootaxa 5698(1): 1-91 - get paper here Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp. Peters , J. A. 1960. The snakes of Ecuador; check list and key. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 122: 489-541 - get paper here Peters, J.A., Orejas-Miranda,B. & Vanzolini,P.E. 1986. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata (Revised Edition) Part I: Snakes. Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington D.C., London) RIVAS, GILSON A.; CÉSAR R. MOLINA, GABRIEL N. UGUETO, TITO R. BARROS, CÉSAR L. BAR- RIO-AMORÓS & PHILIPPE J. R. KOK 2012. Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist. Zootaxa 3211: 1–64 - get paper here Rivas, L. R., Eversole, C. B., & Powell, R. L. 2023. Urban herpetofauna of Trinidad, Beni Department, Bolivia. Herpetology Notes, 16, 399-410 - get paper here Roze, J.A. 1957. nan Bol. Mus. Cien. Nat. Venezuela 1 [1955]: 186, 188 SMAGA, CHRISTOPHER R.; ALEX TTITO, ALESSANDRO CATENAZZI 2019. Arcanumophis, a new genus and generic allocation for Erythrolamprus problematicus (Myers 1986), Xenodontinae (Colubridae) from the Cordillera de Carabaya, southern Peru. Zootaxa 4671 (1): 129–138 - get paper here Starace, Fausto 1998. Guide des Serpents et Amphisbènes de Guyane. IBIS Rouge Editions, Guadeloupe, Guyane, 450 pp. Starace, Fausto 2013. Guide des Serpents et Amphisbènes de Guyane. Ibis Rouge Editions, Matoury, Guyane, ISBN 978-2-84450-407-4 - get paper here Strussman,C. & de Carvalho,M.A. 1998. New herpetological records for the state of Mato Grosso, western Brazil. Herpetological Review 29 (3): 183-185 - get paper here Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D. 2019. Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich portal, with a dynamic checklist and photographic guides. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1): [General Section]: 209–229 (e178) - get paper here Vaz-Silva, W.; RM Oliveira, AFN Gonzaga, KC Pinto, FC Poli, TM Bilce, M Penhacek, L Wronski, JX Martins, TG Junqueira, LCC, Cesca VY, Guimarães RD. Pinheiro 2015. Contributions to the knowledge of amphibians and reptiles from Volta Grande do Xingu, northern Brazil Braz. J. Biol., 75 (3) (suppl.): S205-S218 - 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.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information https://bioweb.bio/faunaweb/reptiliaweb/FichaEspecie/Erythrolamprus… Google images

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