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Rhadinaea decorata (GÜNTHER, 1858)

IUCN Red List - Rhadinaea decorata - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae (Dipsadinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Adorned Graceful Brown Snake
G: Geschmückte Laubschlange
S: Hojarasquera Rayada 
SynonymCoronella decorata GÜNTHER 1858: 35
Rhadinaea decorata — COPE 1864: 101
Dromicus ignitus by COPE 1871
Diadophis decorata — GARMAN 1884: 71
Diadophis decoratus — GARMAN 1887: 127
Rhadinaea ignita — COPE 1893: 344
Erythrolamprus longicaudus WERNER 1903: 348
Rhadinaea decorata — DUNN 1942
Rhadinaea decorata — TAYLOR 1949: 196
Rhadinaea decorata decorata — TAYLOR 1951: 113
Rhadinaea decorata — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 265
Rhadinaea decorata — LINER 1994
Rhadinaea decorata — LINER 2007
Rhadinea decorata [sic] — GOLDBERG 2007
Rhadinea decorata [sic] — ROVITO et al. 2015
Rhadinaea decorata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 639
Rhadinaea decorata — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023
Rhadinaea decorate — SASA et al. 2025 (in error) 
DistributionMexico (Oaxaca, Puebla, Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí, Chiapas), Guatemala, El Salvador ?,
Honduras ?, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
Colombia [Castro,F. (pers. comm.)], Ecuador

Type locality: Mexico

longicaudus: Type locality: “Coban, Guatemala”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.9.3
Holotype: ZSM 216/0 (lost), adult [Erythrolamprus longicaudus]
Syntype: USNM 24501, 24502 [Dromicus ignitus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Myers 1974: 68.


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CommentSynonymy after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970.

Max. total length: 35 cm

Habitat: terrestrial

Distribution: not in Yucatan state (Mexico), fide Gonzalez-Sanchez et al. 2017.

The only other species of Erythrolamprus reported from Guatemala is E. mentalis WERNER 1909, a species of unknown status (MYERS 1974: 122). The type locality of E. mentalis is in “Guatemala” and its type is in ZMH.

Group: Rhadinaea decorata group 
EtymologyThe specific name was derived from the Latin word decorus, meaning "beautiful or adorned," in reference to the dorsal pattern. 
References
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