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Helicops polylepis GÜNTHER, 1861

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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Norman's Keelback
Portuguese: Cobra-D’água 
SynonymHelicops polylepis GÜNTHER 1861: 426
Tachynectes chrysostictus COPE 1862: 71
Helicops polylepis — BOULENGER 1893: 280
Helicops spixii JAN 1865: 249
Helicops polylepis — AMARAL 1925
Helicops polylepis — PETERS et al. 1970: 125
Helicops polylepis — DA FROTA 2005
Helicops polylepis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 323
Helicops polylepis — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 
DistributionBrazil (Amazonas, Pará), Colombia, Peru, Bolivia (Beni)

Type locality: Upper Amazon  
Reproductionovovivparous (Braz et al. 2016) 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.13.25 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Helicops polylepis can be distinguished from all its congeners by the combination of 23–26 dorsal scale rows at midbody, the absence of intergenials, and a semidivided nasal scale (for information on references see Suppl. material 3, Schöneberg & Köhler 2021). 
CommentSynonymy mostly that of PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

 
EtymologyNamed after Greek polys (πολύς), several + Greek lepis (λεπίς), scales. (GÜNTHER 1861, Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
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  • 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, 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
  • Camargo, I. C. M., Veras, J. C. P., Ribeiro, S., Kawashita-Ribeiro, R. A., de Fraga, R., & Junior, A. P. S. 2021. Sexual dimorphism in the South American water snake Helicops polylepis (Serpentes: Dipsadidae). Phyllomedusa 20(1): 15-25 - get paper here
  • Carvalho Teixeira, Cássia de; Luciano Fogaça de Assis Montag, and Maria Cristina dos Santos-Costa 2017. Diet Composition and Foraging Habitat Use by Three Species of Water Snakes, Helicops Wagler, 1830, (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) in Eastern Brazilian Amazonia. Journal of Herpetology 51 (2): 215-222. - 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
  • Cope, E.D. 1862. Synopsis of the species of Holcosus and Ameiva, with diagnoses of new West Indian and South American Colubridae. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 14: 60-82. - 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
  • da Frota, J.G. 2005. Nova espécie de Helicops Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae) do rio Tapajós, Amazonia, Brasil. Phyllomedusa 4 (1): 61-68 - get paper here
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