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Atractus elaps (GÜNTHER, 1858)

IUCN Red List - Atractus elaps - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Black Ground Snake 
SynonymRhabdosoma elaps GÜNTHER 1858: 241
Rhabdosoma brevifrenum JAN 1862: 12
Atractus elaps tetrazonus AMARAL 1931: 87
Geophis diplozeugus SCHMIDT & WALKER 1943: 286
Atractus elaps — SAVAGE 1960: 39
Atractus elaps — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 29
Atractus elaps — DIXON 1976
Atractus elaps — DUELLMAN 1978: 227
Atractus elaps — KORNACKER 1999: 63
Atractus elaps — PASSOS et al. 2007
Atractus elaps — WALLACH et al. 2014: 71
Atractus elaps — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionEcuador, N Peru, E Colombia, Brazil (Amazonas, Pará)
Venezuela, Bolivia (Beni)

Type locality:Guayaquil, Ecuador.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.6.45
Holotype: IBSP 6314 [tetrazonus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: The striking coloration of this species reatlily distinguishes it from all other Ecuadorian Atractus. The diagnostic features of the population are: (1) 15 scale rows; (2) loreal short; (3) maxillary teeth seven or eight, rarely six; (4) ventrals in males, 135-154 (144); in females, 141-161 (152); and (5) body encircled by a series of red and black rings [from SAVAGE 1960].


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CommentSynonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

Distribution: Map in Dixon et al. 1976: 224 (Fig. 2). See map in Nogueira et al. 2019. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek elaps (ἔλαψ), from Greek ἔλλοψ, a fish or snake. (Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
  • Amaral, A. D. 1931. Studies of neotropical ophidia XXIII. Additional notes on Colombian snakes XXVI. Ophidia of Colombia. Bulletin of the Antivenin Institute of America 4 (4): 85-94
  • Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - 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
  • CATENAZZI, A., LEHR, E. & VON MAY, R. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Manu National Park and its buffer zone, Amazon basin and eastern slopes of the Andes, Peru. Biota Neotropica 13 (4): 269-283 - get paper here
  • Claessen, H. 2003. De slangen can de Guyana’s. Deel iv. Lacerta 61 (1): 19-27 - get paper here
  • Dixon,J.R., Thomas,R.A. & Greene,H.W. 1976. Status of the neotropical snake Rhabdosoma poeppigi JAN, with notes on variation in Atractus elaps (GÜNTHER). Herpetologica 32 (2): 221-227 - get paper here
  • Duellman, W. E. 1978. The biology of an equatorial herpetofauna in Amazonian Ecuador. Misc. Publ. Univ. Kans. Mus. Nat. Hist. 65: 1-352 - get paper here
  • Duellman, W. E. 2005. Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest. Comstock Pub Assoc.
  • Duellman, W.E., & Salas, A.W. 1991. Annotated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Cuzco Amazonico, Peru. Occas. Papers Mus. of Natur. Hist., Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence (143): 13 pp. - get paper here
  • Eversole, C. B., Powell, R. L., Rivas, L. R., & Lizarro, D. E. 2024. Reptile Biodiversity and Vulnerability in Bolivia’s Beni Department: Informing Conservation Priorities in a Neglected Frontier. Diversity, 16(6), 335 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1858. Catalogue of Colubrine snakes of the British Museum. London, I - XVI, 1 - 281 - get paper here
  • Hoogmoed, M. S. 1980. Revision of the genus Atractus in Surinam, with the ressurection of two species (Colubridae, Reptilia). Notes on the Herpetofauna of Surinam VII. Zoologische Verhandelingen (175): 1-47 - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1862. Enumerazione sistematico delle specie d'ofidi del gruppo Calamaridae. Arch. Zool., Anat. Fisiol., 2: 1-76. - get paper here
  • Jan, G. 1865. Iconographie générale des ophidiens. 10. Livraison. J.B. Bailière et Fils, Paris - get paper here
  • Kornacker,P.M. 1999. Checklist and key to the snakes of Venezuela. PaKo-Verlag, Rheinbach, Germany, 270 pp.
  • Lancini,A.R. & Kornacker,P.M. 1989. Die Schlangen von Venezuela. Armitano Editores C.A., Caracas, 1-381
  • Lehr, E. 2002. Amphibien und Reptilien in Peru. Natur und Tier-Verlag (Münster), 208 pp. - get paper here
  • Lehr, E. & Lara, J. 2002. Die Schlangenfauna von Pozuzo (Peru) (Reptilia: Serpentes). Faun. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden 22 (2): 353-359
  • Melo-Sampaio, Paulo Roberto; Paulo Passos, Antoine Fouquet, Ana Lucia Da Costa Prudente & Omar Torres-Carvajal 2019. Systematic review of Atractus schach (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) species complex from the Guiana Shield with description of three new species. Systematics and Biodiversity, 17:3, 207-229, DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2019.1611674 - get paper here
  • Metcalf, M. F., Guedouar, E., Davis, L., Rodriguez, A., Marsh, A., Pacaya, E. T., ... & Gunnels IV, C. W. 2023. Herpetofauna of Madre Selva Biological Station in Loreto, Peru. Herpetology Notes, 16, 727-740 - get paper here
  • Muñoz-Saba, Yaneth; Nathaly Calvo-Roa, Paul Andrés Gómez-Sandoval, Diego Casallas-Pabón John Douglas Lynch, Lucas S. Barrientos, Diego A. Gómez-Sánchez. 2019. Guía de campo de los mamíferos, anfibios y reptiles de Santa María (Boyacá, Colombia). Serie Guías de Campo del Instituto de Ciencias Naturales. N° 23. Bogotá D.C. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Bogotá. 317 p - 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
  • Pandelis, G. G., Grundler, M. C., & Rabosky, D. L. 2023. Ecological correlates of cranial evolution in the megaradiation of dipsadine snakes. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 23(1), 1-20 - get paper here
  • Passos, P., Dobiey, M., & Venegas, P. J. 2010. Variation and natural history notes on giant groundsnake, Atractus gigas (Serpentes: Dipsadidae). South American J. Herp. 5 (2): 73-82 - get paper here
  • Passos, P., R. Fernandes and Borges-Nojosa, D.M. 2007. A New Species of Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadinae) from a Relictual Forest in Northeastern Brazil. Copeia 2007 (4): 788–797 - get paper here
  • Passos, Paulo; Philippe J. R. Kok, Nelson R. de Albuquerque, and Gilson A. Rivas 2013. Groundsnakes of the Lost World: A Review of Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from the Pantepui Region, Northern South America. Herpetological Monographs 27 (1): 52-86 - get paper here
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Rabosky, Daniel L.; Rudolf von May, Michael C. Grundler and Alison R. Davis Rabosky 2019. The Western Amazonian Richness Gradient for Squamate Reptiles: Are There Really Fewer Snakes and Lizards in Southwestern Amazonian Lowlands? Diversity 11: 199; doi:10.3390/d11100199 - get paper here
  • Rincón-Aranguri, M., Toro-Cardona, F. A., Galeano, S. P., Roa-Fuentes, L.. & Urbina-Cardona, N. 2023. Functional diversity of snakes is explained by the landscape composition at multiple areas of influence. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10352 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Savage,J.M. 1960. A revision of the Ecuadorian snakes of the colubrid genus Atractus. Misc. Publ. Zool. Univ. Michigan 112: 1-86 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, Karl P. & Walker, Warren F. 1943. Peruvian snakes from the University of Arequipa. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Zoology 24 (26): 279-296 - get paper here
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  • 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.
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