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Leptophis coeruleodorsus OLIVER, 1942

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Green-and-yellow Parrot Snake, Oliver’s parrot snake
E: Tobagan Parrot Snake [haileyi] 
SynonymLeptophis coeruleodorsus OLIVER 1942: 4
Ahaetulla liocercus — REINHARDT & LÜTKEN 1862: 10
Dendrophis liocercus — COURT 1884: 382
Leptophis liocercus — MOLE & URICH 1894a: 85
Leptophis ahaetulla ortoni — BEEBE 1946: 34
Leptophis coeruleodorsus — BEEBE 1946: 34
Thalerophis richardi coeruleodorsus — OLIVER 1948: 228
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — ICZN 1958: 270
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — MERTENS 1972
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — MERTENS 1973
Leptophis ahaetulla — EMSLEY 1977: 241
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — KORNACKER 1997
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — BOOS 2001
Leptophis ahaetulla coeruleodorsus — UGUETO & RIVAS 2010
Leptophis coeruleodorsus — MURPHY et al. 2013
Leptophis haileyi MURPHY, CHARLES, LEHTINEN & KOELLER 2013
Leptophis coeruleodorsus — ALBUQUERQUE et al. 2022
Leptophis haileyi — MURPHY et al. 2023 
DistributionVenezuela, Tobago, Trinidad, Isla de Margarita

Type locality: Trinidad, British West Indies. Here we restrict the type locality to Mt. St. Benedict, Tunapuna, Trinidad (~10°39’N 61°23’W). There are three well documented specimens collected from this location.

haileyi: Tobago; Type locality: Tobago near Roxborough at 11° 15′ 05.8′′N, 60° 34′ 04.7′′W.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: AMNH 9022 (also given as AMNH 209022).
Holotype: CAS 245313, male; collected by P.G. Frank, P.A. Frank, and R. Lawson in 2006 [haileyi] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis. Leptophis coeruleodorsus can be distinguished from its congeners by the following unique combination of character states: (1) head scales not edged with black and with no black spots; (2) adult color pattern with no dark dorsal bands; (3) dorsum with two dorsolateral stripes separated from each other by middorsal area about three to nine scale rows wide, at least anteriorly; (4) dorsals keeled, except first dorsal row on each side; keels of dorsals slightly black; (5) no loreal scale; (6) ventrals 144–168 in males, 157–178 in females; (7) subcaudals 141–166 in males, 125–174 in females; (8) dorsal scales of tail with no keels; (9) maxillary teeth 22–24; (10) TL/SvL: 95% CI = 0.632–0.663 mm (n = 18); (11) small spines at first basal row of hemipenial body; (12) asulcate side of hemipenis similar to sulcate side.
Comparisons. Leptophis coeruleodorsus differs from all members of the L. ahaetulla complex by dorsal color pattern with two dorsolateral stripes at rows 2–4 or 2–5 (occasionally 2–3 or 3–5) (Fig. 12A–B) separated from each other by middorsal area about three to nine scale rows wide, at least anteriorly (vs. dorsolateral stripes usually absent; if present, separated from each other by vertebral stripe one to one and half scale wide, at least anteriorly). Further, L. coeruleodorsus differs from sympatric L. occidentalis by having dorsal coloration reduced posteriorly, becoming Pale Cinnamon (55) (Fig. 12C) to bronze in preservative (vs. uniform dorsal coloration; Fig. 29A); pre-ocular black stripe always absent or reduced to black margin on second and third supralabials (vs. preocular black stripe present and always reduced to upper margin on second, third and fourth supralabials); and the lowest number of ventrals in males—95% CI = 158.6–161 and females—162.6–165.2 (vs. 164.9–166.9 and 167–169.9, respectively) (Table 2). (Albuquerque et al. 2022).


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CommentSynonymy: Leptophis haileyi was synonymized with Leptophis coeruleodorsus by Albuquerque & Fernandes 2022.

Not listed by WALLACH et al. 2014:372 but mentioned under L. ahaetulla as valid fide Navarrete et al. 2009: 61.

Distribution: Literature reports of L. coeruleodorsus on the Isla de Margarita need verification. Pérez-Santos (1988) reported this species from western Colombia, probably based upon mis-identified L. a. occidentalis. See map in Albuquerque & Fernandes 2022: 18 (Fig. 18).

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin coerulea = dark colored, dark blue, and Latin dorsum = back, even though the dorsal color is usually not blue (but the green color can turn to blue in preservative).

L. haileyi was named in honor of Adrian Hailey, the University of the West Indies for his contributions to the herpetology of Trinidad and Tobago. 
References
  • ALBUQUERQUE, NELSON RUFINO DE; & DANIEL S. FERNANDES 2022. Taxonomic revision of the parrot snake Leptophis ahaetulla (Serpentes, Colubridae) Zootaxa 5153 (1): 001–069 - get paper here
  • Auguste, Renoir J. 2019. Herpetofaunal checklist for six pilot protected areas in Trinidad and Tobago. Herpetology Notes 12: 577-585 - get paper here
  • Beebe, William 1946. Field notes on the snakes of Kartabo, British Guiana, and Caripito, Venezuela. Zoologica 31: 11-52 - get paper here
  • Boos, H.E.A. 2001. The snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, 270 pp.
  • Gorzula, Stefan & Senaris, J. Celsa 1999. In: Contribution to the herpetofauna of the Venezuelan Guayana. I: a data base. Scientia Guaianae, Caracas, No. 8 [1998], 269+ pp.; ISBN 980-6020-48-0
  • 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
  • Hedges SB, Powell R, Henderson RW, Hanson S, and Murphy JC 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology 67: 1–53
  • Kornacker, Paul M.;Dederichs, Ursula 1997. Herpetologische Eindrücke einer Venezuelareise. Elaphe 5 (3): 87-96
  • Mertens, R. 1972. Herpetofauna tobagana. Stuttgarter Beitr. zur Naturkunde nr. 252 22 pp. - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1973. Bemerkenswerte Schlanknattern der neotropischen Gattung Leptophis. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna 8: 141-154. - get paper here
  • Murphy, John C.; John C. Weber, Michael J. Jowers, and Robert C. Jadin 2023. Two Islands, Two Origins: The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. In: Lillywhite & Martins, eds., Islands and snakes, vol. II. Oxford University Press, p. 81 ff - get paper here
  • MURPHY, JOHN C.; STEVLAND P. CHARLES, RICHARD M. LEHTINEN & KRISTA L. KOELLER 2013. A molecular and morphological characterization of Oliver’s parrot snake, Leptophis coeruleodorsus (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae) with the description of a new species from Tobago. Zootaxa 3718 (6): 561–574 - 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
  • Navarrete, L.F.; López-Johnston, J.C. & Dávila Blanco, A. 2009. Guia de las Serpientes de Venezuela [2da Edición]. Zoocriadero Ecopets, Bioreptilia, y Grupo Río Verde, Caracas, 102 pp.
  • Oliver, J. A. 1942. A check list of the snakes of the genus Leptophis, with descriptions of new forms. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (No. 462): 19 pp. - get paper here
  • Oliver, J. A. 1948. The relationships and zoogeography of the genus Thalerophis Oliver. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 92: 157-280. - get paper here
  • Señaris, J. Celsa; María Matilde Aristeguieta Padrón, Haidy Rojas Gil y Fernando J. M. Rojas-Runjaic 2018. Guía ilustrada de los anfibios y reptiles del valle de Caracas, Venezuela. Ediciones IVIC, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC). Caracas, Venezuela. 348 pp.
  • Ugueto, G.N. & Rivas, G.A. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Margarita, Coche and Cubagua. Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History, Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 350 pp
 
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