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Pseudoeryx plicatilis (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Pseudoeryx plicatilis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesPseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus COPE 1885
Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis (LINNAEUS 1758) 
Common NamesE: South American Pond Snake
Portuguese: Cobra-D’água, Cobra-Preta, Sucuri 
SynonymColuber plicatilis LINNAEUS 1758: 217
Cerastes plicatilis — LAURENTI 1768: 81
Elaps plicatilis — SCHNEIDER 1801: 294
Natrix plicatilis — MERREM 1820: 99
Pseudoeryx Daudinii FITZINGER 1826: 55
Homalopsis plicatilis — BOIE 1827: 523
Helicops plicatilis — WAGLER 1830: 171
Pseuderyx plicatilis — FITZINGER 1843: 25 (unjustified emendation)
Dimades plicatilis — GRAY 1849: 76
Calopisma plicatile — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 344
Dimades plicatilis — KOSLOWSKY 1898
Pseudoeryx plicatilis ecuadorensis MERTENS 1965: 281
Pseudoeryx plicatilis — STARACE 1998: 233
Pseudoeryx plicatilis — KORNACKER 1999: 127
Pseudoeryx plicatilis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 601

Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis (LINNAEUS 1758)
Coluber plicatilis LINNAEUS 1758
Pseudoeryx plicatilis FITZINGER 1826: 55
Pseudoeryx daudinii FITZINGER 1826: 55
Dimades plicatilis — BOULENGER 1894
Pseudoeryx plicatilis var. anomalepis BOCOURT 1895: 804
Hydrops lehmanni DUNN 1944: 71 (fide ROZE 1957)
Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis — HOGE & MARANHAO 1964
Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 255
Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis — GASC & RODRIGUES 1980
Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis — CEI 1993
Pseudoeryx plicatilis plicatilis — SCARTOZZONI et al. 2010

Pseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus COPE 1885
Pseudoeryx mimeticus COPE 1885: 94
Pseudoeryx mimeticus — ROZE 1957: 23
Pseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus — HOGE 1964: 82
Pseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 255
Pseuderyx mimeticus — MALNATE 1971: 369 (in error)
Pseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus — SCARTOZZONI et al. 2010 
DistributionColombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru,
Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Bolivia (Beni), Paraguay, N Argentina (Corrientes, Chaco, Formosa, Misiones), Brazil (Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Acre, Amapá, Roraima, Pará, Rondonia, Amazonas, Maranhão)

Type locality: “Ternataeis”

mimeticus: Bolivia; Type locality: Bolivia, Rio Mamoré.  
Reproductionoviparous (Braz et al. 2016) 
TypesHolotype: NRM 57
Holotype: SMF 60435, female [ecuadorensis]
Holotype: ANSP 11298 [mimeticus] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 3666 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after ROZE 1957, CEI 1993, DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854 (plicatilis) and PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970 (mimeticus).

Type species: Pseudoeryx Daudinii FITZINGER 1826 is the type species of the genus Pseudoeryx FITZINGER 1826: 55. Roze 1957 provides a diagnosis of the genus, but SCHARGEL et al. (2007) provide a revised diagnosis of the genus. Coluber plicatilis LINNAEUS 1758 is the type species of the genus Dimades GRAY1849, now a synonym of Pseudoeryx.

Distribution: for a map and localities see Scartozzoni et al. 2010. See map in Nogueira et al. 2019.

Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (10-80%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin plicatilis, that may be folded together or doubled up, flexible, pliable. (Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024)

Pseudoeryx plicatilis mimeticus was named after Greek mimetikos (μιμηθικος), imitative, mimetic. [“...The P. mimeticus has a remarkable resemblance to the Hydrocalamus quinquevittatus (D. & B.)…”].

The genus was named after Greek pseudo (ψευδο), false, untrue, mistaken + Latin Eryx, snake genus due to Daudin, 1803. 
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