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Dipsas bucephala (SHAW, 1802)

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Neotropical Snail-eater
Portuguese: Papa lesmas, Come-Lesma, Dormideira, Dormideira-Comum, Jararaca, Jararaquinha-Dormideira 
SynonymColuber bucephalus SHAW 1802: 422
Bungarus bucephalus — OPPEL 1810: 392
Dipsadomorus [sic] indicus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 470 (part.)
Leptognathus indicus GÜNTHER 1858
Dipsas indica — BOULENGER 1896 (part.)
Dipsas indica bucephala — PETERS 1960: 73
Dipsas indica bucephala — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 87
Dipsas indica bucephala — CEI 1993
Dipsas bucephala — HARVEY & EMBERT 2009
Dipsas bucephala — WALLACH et al. 2014: 231
Dipsas bucephala — CACCIALI et al. 2016: 184
Dipsas bucephala — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionE/C Brazil (Mato Grosso), E Paraguay, Argentina (Misiones) (Peters, 1960; Giraudo, 2002), Bolivia (Beni)

Type locality: originally given as “Ceylon” restricted to Brazil by PETERS 1960.  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: Unknown, described on the basis of Seba's figure of species (1734, P1. 43, Fig. 4). 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (30 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: Dipsas bucephala cisticeps (BOETTGER 1885) is now considered a valid species.

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

This is a harmless snake, although it is similar to the dangerous Jararaca, hence it is sometimes also called “Jararaca”. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek bous (βοῦς) bullock, bull, ox + Greek kephalas (κεφαλᾶς), head. Also Greek Boucephalas (Βουκεφάλας), the horse of Alexander the Great. (SHAW 1802, Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
  • Atkinson, Karina; Paul Smith, Joseph Sarvary, Alexander Matthews 2017. New and noteworthy snake species records (Colubridae and Dipsadidae) for the Reserva Natural Laguna Blanca, eastern Paraguay. Check List 13 (1): 1-5 - get paper here
  • Bocourt, M. F. 1883. In A. Duméril, M. F. Bocourt, and F. Mocquard, (1870-1909), Etudes sur les reptiles, p. i-xiv, 1-1012. In Recherches Zoologiques pour servir a l'Histoire de Ia Faune de l'Amérique Centrale et du Mexique. Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amér Imprimerie Impériale, Paris - get paper here
  • Boettger, O. 1885. Liste von Reptilien und Batrachiern aus Paraguay. Zeitschr. Naturw. 58 (3): 213-248 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Cacciali, Pier; Norman J. Scott, Aida Luz Aquino Ortíz, Lee A. Fitzgerald, and Paul Smith 2016. The Reptiles of Paraguay: Literature, Distribution, and an Annotated Taxonomic Checklist. SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MUSEUM OF SOUTHWESTERN BIOLOGY, NUMBER 11: 1–373 - get paper here
  • Cei, J. M. 1993. Reptiles del noroeste, nordeste y este de la Argentina. Museo Regionale Sci. Naturale Torino, Monografie 14: 1-949
  • Dainesi, Raiane Lesley Santos; Arthur Diesel Abegg, Paulo Sérgio Bernarde, Bruno Peña Correa, Laís Pio Caetano Machado, Afonso Santiago de Oliveira Meneses, Arthur de Sena Santos 2019. Integrative overview of snake species from Londrina, State of Paraná, Brazil. Herpetology Notes 12: 419-430 - 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
  • 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
  • Günther, A. 1858. Catalogue of Colubrine snakes of the British Museum. London, I - XVI, 1 - 281 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Harvey, Michael B. 2008. New and Poorly Known Dipsas (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Northern South America. Herpetologica 64 (4): 422-451 - get paper here
  • Harvey, Michael B. and Dirk Embert 2008. Review of Bolivian Dipsas (Serpentes: Colubridae), with Comments on Other South American Species. Herpetological Monographs 22 (1): 54-105 - get paper here
  • Marques-Tozetti, Alexandro; Sergio Augusto Abrahão Morato, Renato Silveira Bérnils, Daniel Loebmann, Luís Felipe Toledo, Russell Gray, Omar M. Entiauspe-Neto 2021. Evolutionary dynamics shape two passive defensive mechanisms in Neotropical snake radiations. Phyllomedusa 20(1): 3-13 - 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
  • Oppel, M. 1810. Memoire sur la classification des reptiles. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 16: 376-393 - get paper here
  • Peters , J. A. 1960. The snakes of the subfamily Dipsadinae. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (114): 224 pp. - get paper here
  • Peters, James A.; Donoso-Barros, Roberto & Orejas-Miranda, Braulio 1970. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part I Snakes. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 297: 347 pp. - get paper here
  • Shaw, G. 1802. General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Vol.3, part 2. G. Kearsley, Thomas Davison, London: 313-615 - get paper here
  • Silva, M.C. da, R.H. de Oliveira, D.H. Morais, R.A. Kawashita-Ribeiro, E.S. de Brito & R.W. Ávila 2015. Amphibians and reptiles of a Cerrado area in Primavera do Leste Municipality, Mato Grosso State, Central Brazil. Salamandra 51 (2): 187-194 - get paper here
  • Torello-Viera, Natália F., Daniela P. Araújo, and Henrique B. Braz 2012. Annual and Daily Activity Patterns of the Snail-Eating Snake Dipsas bucephala (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) in Southeastern Brazil. South American J. Herp. 7 (3): 252-258. - 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.
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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