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Helicops modestus GÜNTHER, 1861

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Olive Keelback
Portuguese: Boipeva, Cobra-D’água, Cobra-D’água 
SynonymHelicops modestus GÜNTHER 1861: 425
Tachyplotus hedemanni REINHARDT 1866
Helicops assimilis REINHARDT 1866: 156
Helicops modestus — BOULENGER 1893: 277
Helicops modestus — CAMPOS NOGUEIRA 2001
Helicops modestus — KAWASHITA-RIBEIRO et al. 2013
Helicops modestus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 322
Helicops modestus — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionBrazil (Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal, Goias, Bahia, Pará)

Type locality: Tropical America ? [Helicops modestus GÜNTHER 1861]
Type locality: Minas Gerais, Brazil [Helicops assimilis REINHARDT 1866]  
Reproductionovovivparous (Braz et al. 2016) 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.14.42 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Helicops modestus differs from all its congeners except H. carinicaudus, H. danieli, H. infrataeniatus, H. leopardinus and H. tapajonicus by having 19 dorsal scale rows at anterior body and 17–20 at midbody, and the absence of subcaudal keels. From the remaining species it differs in having a black to dark green dorsum with indistinct longitudinal stripes and a nearly uniform light cream venter, sometimes with faint flecks (for information on references see Suppl. material 3, Schöneberg & Köhler 2021). 
CommentVenomous!

Types of H. assimilis and T. hedemanni in ZMUC. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin modestus, restrained, mild; modest. (GÜNTHER 1861, Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
  • BARBO, F. E.; MARQUES, O. A. V. & SAWAYA, R. J. 2011. Diversity, Natural History and Distribution of Snakes in the Municipality of São Paulo. South American J. Herp. 6: 135-160
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Braz, Henrique B.; Rodrigo R. Scartozzoni, Selma M. Almeida-Santos 2016. Reproductive modes of the South American water snakes: A study system for the evolution of viviparity in squamate reptiles. Zoologischer Anzeiger 263: 33-44; doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2016.04.003 - get paper here
  • Campos Nogueira, C. de 2001. New records of Squamate Reptiles in Central Brazilian Cerrado II: Brasília Region. Herpetological Review 32 (4): 285-287 - get paper here
  • Costa, Henrique C.; Diego J. Santana, Fernando Leal, Ricardo Koroiva, and Paulo C.A. Garcia 2016. A New Species of Helicops (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Hydropsini) from Southeastern Brazil. Herpetologica 72 (2): 157-166 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Franca, F.G.R.; Daniel O. Mesquita, Cristiano C. Nogueira, and Alexandre F. B. Araújo 2008. Phylogeny and Ecology Determine Morphological Structure in a Snake Assemblage in the Central Brazilian Cerrado. Copeia 2008 (1): 23-38 - get paper here
  • Freitas, Marco António de and Thaís Figueiredo Santos Silva. 2011. Geographic Distribution: Helicops modestus. Herpetological Review 42 (3): 394 - 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
  • Graca Salomão, M. da et al. 2003. Colubrid snakebite: a public health problem in Brazil. Herpetological Review 34 (4): 307-312 - get paper here
  • GUEDES, THAÍS B.; CRISTIANO NOGUEIRA & OTAVIO A. V. MARQUES 2014. Diversity, natural history, and geographic distribution of snakes in the Caatinga, Northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa 3863 (1): 001–093 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1861. On the ophidian genus Helicops. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 7: 425-428 - get paper here
  • Hamdan, B. & R. M. Lira-da-Silva 2012. The snakes of Bahia State, northeastern Brazil: species richness, composition and biogeographical notes. Salamandra 48 (1): 31-50 - get paper here
  • Kawashita-Ribeiro, Ricardo Alexandre; Robson Waldemar Ávila, and Drausio Honorio Morais 2013. A New Snake of the Genus Helicops Wagler, 1830 (Dipsadidae, Xenodontinae) from Brazil. Herpetologica 69 (1): 80-90. - get paper here
  • MORAES-DA-SILVA, ANTONIO; RENATA CECÍLIA AMARO, PEDRO M. SALES NUNES, CHRISTINE STRÜSSMANN, MAURO JUNIOR TEIXEIRA, ALBEDI JR. ANDRADE, VINÍCIUS SUDRÉ, RENATO RECODER, MIGUEL TREFAUT RODRIGUES, FELIPE FRANCO CURCIO 2019. Chance, luck and a fortunate finding: a new species of watersnake of the genus Helicops Wagler, 1828 (Serpentes: Xenodontinae), from the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands. Zootaxa 4651 (3): 445–470 - get paper here
  • Moura, M.R., Costa, H.C., Abegg, A.D., Alaminos, E., Angarita-Sierra, T., Azevedo, W.S., Cabral, H., Carvalho, P., Cechin, S., Citeli, N., Dourado, A.C.M., Duarte, A.F.V., França, F.G.R., Freire, E.M.X., Garcia, P.C.A., Mol, R., Montero, R., Moraes-d 2022. Unwrapping broken tails: Biological and environmental correlates of predation pressure in limbless reptiles. Journal of Animal Ecology. 92(2):324–337 - get paper here
  • Neves MO, Yves A, Pereira EA, Alves L, Vasques JB, Coelho JFT, Silva PS 2019. Herpetofauna in a highly endangered area: the Triângulo Mineiro region, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Herpetozoa 32: 113-123 - 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
  • Oliveira, Leonardo de; Rodrigo Roveri Scartozzoni, Selma Maria de Almeida-Santos, Carlos Jared, Marta Maria Antoniazzi, Maria da Graça Salomão 2016. Morphology of Duvernoy's Glands and Maxillary Teeth and a Possible Function of the Duvernoy's Gland Secretion in Helicops modestus Günther, 1861 (Serpentes: Xenodontinae). South American J. Herp. 11 (1): 54-65. - get paper here
  • Ramalho, Werther Pereira; Vinícius Guerra Batista; Luciano Roberto Passos Lozi 2014. Anfíbios e répteis do médio rio Aporé, estados de Mato Grosso do Sul e Goiás, Brasil. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 9 (3): 147-160; doi: 10.4013/nbc.2014.93.04 - get paper here
  • Reinhardt, JOHANNES 1866. To nye Homalopsider. Aftryk. af naturh. Forenings Vidensk. Meddeleser; Naturhist. Foren. Kjöbenhavn (10-11): 151-161 - get paper here
  • Sawaya, Ricardo Jannini; Otavio Augusto Vuolo Marques <br>& Marcio Martins 2008. Composition and natural history of a Cerrado snake assemblage at Itirapina, São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil Biota Neotropica 8 (2): 127-149 - get paper here
  • Sazima, I.; Martins, M. 1990. Presas grandes e serpentes joves: quando os olhos sao maiores que a boca. Memórias do Instituto Butantan 52: 73-79 - get paper here
  • Schöneberg Y, Köhler G 2022. Distribution and identification of the species in the genus Helicops Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Xenodontinae). Biodiversity Data Journal 10: e69234 - get paper here
  • Schöneberg, Y., & Köhler, G. 2021. Distribution and identification of the species in the genus Helicops Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Xenodontinae). ARPHA Preprints, 1, e67869 - get paper here
  • SOUZA ALMEIDA DE, LUCAS; ARTHUR BRUCK & MATHEUS DE MORAES SANTOS. 2021. HELICOPS MODESTUS (Olive Keelback). PREDATION. Herpetological Review 52 (2): 423–424. - get paper here
  • Vaz-Silva, W. et al. 2007. Herpetofauna, Espora Hydroelectric Power Plant, state of Goiás, Brazil. Check List 3 (4): 338-345 - 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.
  • Zaher, Hussam; Fausto Erritto BarboI; Paola Sanchez Martínez; Cristiano Nogueira; Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues; Ricardo Jannini Sawaya 2011. Répteis do Estado de São Paulo: conhecimento atual e perspectivas. Biota Neotropica, 11 (1): 1–15. - get paper here
 
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