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Atractus major BOULENGER, 1894

IUCN Red List - Atractus major - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Brown Ground Snake, Big Ground Snake
Portuguese: Cobra-Cega, Cobra-Coral 
SynonymAtractus major BOULENGER 1894: 307
Atractus major — SAVAGE 1960: 47
Atractus major — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 31
Atractus major — DUELLMAN 1978: 229
Atractus badius — PERÉZ-SANTOS & MORENO 1988: 68 (part., plate 10)
Atractus major — KORNACKER 1999: 65
Atractus major — PASSOS et al. 2007
Atractus major — WALLACH et al. 2014: 75
Atractus major — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019
Atractus major — ESQUEDA et al. 2025 
DistributionEcuador (TF Roraima, Amazonas), Colombia (Roraima, Amazonas, Rondônia, Caquetá [e.g. Caqueta, Florencia - CI Macagual, F. Castro, pers. comm.], Putumayo), Venezuela (Roraima, Amazonas, Bolívar, Táchira), Brazil (Roraima, Amazonas, Pará [HR 35: 189]), Peru (Roraima, Amazonas, Cusco, Madre de Dios, Huánuco, Loreto, Madre de Díos, San Martin, Ucayali)

Type locality: Canelos, Provinzia Pastaza, Ecuador, 01°36’S, 77°48’W; ca. 520 m elevation.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.9.7.27 (juvenile male) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: The largest Ecuadorian species, distinguished by the following combination of characteristics: (1) 17 scale rows; (2) long loreal; (3) maxillary teeth six or seven, very rarely five; (4) ventrals in males, 148-172 (159), in females, 157-181 (167); and (5) pattern or blotches or bands [from SAVAGE 1960].


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CommentDistribution: not in Bolivia (La Paz) fide SCHARGEL et al. 2013. See map in Nogueira et al. 2019. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin major, from Latin magnus, large/great/big/vast/huge. (BOULENGER 1894, Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
  • Arteaga A, Quezada A, Vieira J, Guayasamin JM 2022. Leaving no stone unturned: three additional new species of Atractus ground snakes (Serpentes, Colubridae) from Ecuador discovered using a biogeographical approach. ZooKeys 1121: 175–210 - get paper here
  • Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Boulenger, George A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London, xi, 382 pp. - 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
  • 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
  • Esqueda, L.F. & E. La Marca 2005. Revisión taxonómica y biogeográfica (con descripción de cinco nuevas especies) de serpientes del género Atractus (Colubridae: Dipsadinae) en los Andes de Venezuela. Herpetotropicos 2 (1): 1-32 - get paper here
  • Esqueda, L.F., Rojas-Runjaic, F.J., Prudente, A.; Santos Bazó, Luis Fernando Navarrete, Edward Carmargo-Sillet, Juan Carlos Ortiz, Claudio Correa, Pablo Guerrero & Félix Urra 2025. A first phylogenetic and taxonomic approach to sleepyhead snakes from Venezuela (Dipsadidae: Atractus), with the description of two new Andean species. Org Divers Evol. - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Lima Moraes, L. J. C. de, do Nascimento Rainha, R., de Pinho Werneck, F., de Souza Oliveira, A. F., Gascon, C., & de Carvalho, V. T. 2022. Amphibians and reptiles from a protected area in western Brazilian Amazonia (Reserva Extrativista do Baixo Juruá). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 62, e202262054-e202262054 - get paper here
  • Martins M. & Oliveira M E. 1993. The snakes of the genus Atractus Wagler (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae) from the Manaus region, central Amazonia, Brazil. Zoologische Mededelingen 67 (1-26): 21-40. - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Metcalf, Matthew; Alexander Marsh, Emerson Torres, Devon Graham, Charles Gunnels 2020. Herpetofauna of the Santa Cruz Forest Preserve in the Peruvian Amazon Basin. Herpetology Notes 13: 753-767 - get paper here
  • Morato de Carvalho, C. et al. 2021. VERTEBRADOS TERRESTRES DE RORAIMA BIOLOGIA GERAL E EXPERIMENTAL 20/21 (1): - get paper here
  • Morato, S.A.A.; Calixto, P.O.; Mendes, L.R.; Gomes, R.; Galatti, U.; Trein, F.L.; Oliveira, F.S.; Ferreira, G.N. 2014. Guia fotográfico de identificação da herpetofauna da Floresta Nacional de Saracá-Taquera, Estado do Pará. Curitiba: STCP Engenharia de Projetos Ltda.; Porto Trombetas: MRN – Mineração Rio do Norte S.A.; 213 p. - get paper here
  • Morato, Sérgio Augusto Abrahão; Guilherme Nunes Ferreira; Michela Rossane Cavilha Scupino (eds.) 2018. Herpetofauna da Amazônia Central: Estudos na FLONA de Saracá-Taquera. Curitiba, Pr: STCP Engenharia de Projetos Ltda.; Porto Trombetas, Pa: MRN – Mineração Rio do Norte S.A., 2018.<br />210p. - 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. & Fernandes, R. 2008. A new species of the colubrid snake genus Atractus (Reptilia: Serpentes) from the central Amazon of Brazil. Zootaxa 1849: 59–66 - 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; AGUSTÍN SCANFERLA; PAULO R. MELO-SAMPAIO; JORGE BRITO; ANA ALMENDARIZ 2018. A giant on the ground: another large-bodied Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadinae) from Ecuadorian Andes, with comments on the dietary specializations of the goo-eaters snakes. An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc. - 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
  • PASSOS, PAULO; VINÍCIUS SUDRÉ, GIULIANO DORIA & PATRICK D. CAMPBELL 2018. The taxonomic status of the “forgotten” Bolivian snakes, Atractus balzani Boulenger 1898 and Atractus maculatus (sensu Boulenger 1896) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae). Zootaxa 4438 (1): 176–182 - get paper here
  • Pérez-Santos,C. & Moreno, A.G. 1988. Ofidios de Colombia. Museo reegionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, Monographie VI, 517 pp.
  • Prado, A. 1940. Notas ofiológicas 2. Observações sobre os ofidios da fauna amazonica, com a descrição de um novo genero e especie. Mem. Inst. Butantan, Sào Paulo 13 [1939]: 1-6 + 1 plate - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Roze, Jánis A. 1961. El genero Atractus (Serpentes: Colubridae) en Venezuela. Acta Biologica Venezuelica 3 (7): 103-119
  • Santos-Costa, Maria Cristina dos; Gleomar Fabiano Maschio, Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente 2015. Natural history of snakes from Floresta Nacional de Caxiuanã, eastern Amazonia, Brazil. Herpetology Notes 8: 69-98 - 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
  • Schargel, W.E. & Castoe, T.A. 2003. The hemipenes of some snakes of the semifossorial genus Atractus, with comments on variation in the genus. Journal of Herpetology 37 (4): 718-781 - get paper here
  • SCHARGEL, WALTER E.; WILLIAM W. LAMAR, PAULO PASSOS, JORGE H. VALENCIA, DIEGO F. CISNEROS-HEREDIA, JONATHAN A. CAMPBELL 2013. A new giant Atractus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Ecuador, with notes on some other large Amazonian congeners. Zootaxa 3721 (5): 455–474 - get paper here
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