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Urotheca dumerilii (BIBRON, 1840)

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymCalamaria dumerilii BIBRON in DE LA SAGRA 1840: 131
Calamaria dumerilii — GARMAN 1887: 280
Urotheca dumerilli — GARMAN 1887: 280
Rhadinaea dumerilii — MAGLIO 1970: 43
Rhadinaea dumerilii — MYERS 1974: 175
Rhadinaea dumerilli — PEREZ-SANTOS & MORENO 1988: 286
Urotheca dumerilli — SAVAGE & CROTHER 1989
Urotheca dumerillii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 783
Urotheca dumerilii — BERNAL 2025 
DistributionW Colombia (West of the Andes, Cauca, Antioquia, Chocó)

Type locality: see comment.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 0733, an adult male 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. 
CommentMYERS 1974 followed Smith and Grant (1958b) in considering Bibron's illustrations of the holotype as constituting the original description of this species. Thus, the name Calamaria dumerili, as used on the plate, was probably published in 1840 according to Smith and Grant, and the combination Urotheca dumerili, as used in the text, was probably published in 1843. Nonetheless, the exact years of publication are by no means certain (MYERS 1974: 179). Listed with a question mark and no information in Wallach & Williams (unpubl.).

Distribution: The type locality, originally given as "Cuba," is unknown but the specimen probably came from Colombia (fide MYERS 1974: 176). Not in Colombia fide Bernal (2025).

Type species: Calamaria dumerilii BIBRON in DE LA SAGRA 1840: 131 is the type species of the genus Urotheca BIBRON 1843 in DE LA SAGRA 1838-1843. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Andre Marie Constant Dumeril (1774-1860), French zoologist and herpetologist.

The genus was named after Greek oura (οὐρᾷ), tail + Greek theca (θήκη), case, chest. ["…cola tan ancha como el tronco en su nacimiento y mui poco estrechada en su extremo…"].  
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - 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
  • Cocteau, J.-T. and G. Bibron 1838. Reptiles, in R. de la Sagra. Historia Física, Política y Natural de la Isla de Cuba, Tomo IV. Arthus Bertrand, Paris, 142 pp. [1838-1843 - index on page 143; but note that BHL has 1840 on the cover page of vol. IV] - get paper here
  • Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24: 278-286. - get paper here
  • González-Acosta, C., Alarcón-Naforo, D. J., Méndez-Galeano, M. A., Pinto-Erazo, M. A., & Böning, P. 2026. Counting snakes on Medusa's head: new records of Imantodes inornatus (Boulenger, 1896) and Urotheca dumerilii (Bibron, 1840) from Gorgona Island (Cauca, Colombia) with comments on the hemipenial morphology of I. inornatus. Herpetology Notes 19: 21–29 - get paper here
  • Maglio, Vincent J. 1970. West Indian Xenodontine colubrid snakes: Their probable origin, phylogeny, and zoogeography. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 141 (1): 1-54 - 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
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Roze, Janis A 1964. The snakes of the Leimadophis-Urotheca-Liophis complex from Parque Nacional Henri Pitter (Rancho Grande), Venezuela, with a description of a new genus and species. Senckenbergiana Biologica 45 (3/5): 533-542
  • 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
  • Vera-Pérez, Luis Enrique; Jorge Alberto Zúñiga-Baos 2015. First record of Urotheca dumerilli (Bibron, 1840) (Squamata: Dipsadidae) in Cauca state, Colombia and notes on natural history. Check List 11 (6): 1794 - 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.
 
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