| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Mexican White-lipped Snake
S: Culebra Labio-blanco de Tehuantepec |
| Synonym | Symphimus leucostomus COPE 1869: 150
Symphimus leucostomus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1945
Symphimus leucostomus — LINER 1994
Symphimus leucostomus — STAFFORD 2005
Symphimus leucostomus — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015
Symphimus leucostomus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 691 |
| Distribution | SE Mexico (Chiapas, Pacific versant of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Jalisco).
Type locality: Chihuitan, Oaxaca.
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| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: USNM 30310 (given as type by Smith & Taylor 1945, although there is a syntype, USNM 30311, too, which was interpreted as lectotype designation by Wallach et al. 2014). Other specimens: KU, UIMNH, FMNH, AMNH, UMMZ |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): apparently not available; Cope described S. leucostomus as new species of a monotypic genus, so he did not provide a genus diagnosis. Gaige described the only other species in the genus as Eurypholis mayae, that is, in a different genus. Rossman & Schaefer 1974 moved Opheodrys mayae to Symphimus, without providing a revised diagnosis of the genus.
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| Comment | Stafford (2005) estimates that there are fewer than 20 museum specimens available in total.
Type species: Symphimus leucostomus COPE 1869 is the type species of the genus Symphimus COPE 1869.
Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
| Etymology | From the Greek “leukós” meaning white and “stóma” meaning mouth. Likely in reference to the white coloration around its mouth (this species is called White-lipped Snake).
The genus was named after Greek symphias (συμφυάς), a growing together, connexion by natural growth + Greek -imos (-ιμος), pertaining to, having the quality of. ["...cephalic plates normal except that the internasals are confluent with the nasal, and the latter with each other and with the loreal...”]. |
| References |
- Casas-Andreu, G., F.R. Méndez-De la Cruz and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2004. Anfibios y Reptiles; pp. 375–390, in A.J.M. García-Mendoza, J. Ordoñez and M. Briones-Salas (ed.). Biodiversidad de Oaxaca. Instituto de Biología, UNAM-Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza-World Wildlife Fund, México, D. F.
- Cope, E.D. 1870. Seventh contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 11: 147-169 [1869] - get paper here
- García, A. & Ceballos, G. 1994. GUIA DE CAMPO DE LOS REPTILES Y ANFIBIOS DE LA COSTA DE JALISCO, MEXICO. FUNDACION ECOLOGICA DE CUIXMALA, A.C. INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA, UNAM - get paper here
- García-Grajales, J.; Y. López-López; A. Buenrostro-Silva; V. Mata-Silva 2012. Symphimus leucostomus Cope, 1869 (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae): Distribution extension in the Pacific lowlands of Oaxaca, Mexico. Check List 8(5):917-918 - get paper here
- 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
- Heimes, P. 2016. Snakes of Mexico. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 572 pp
- Johnson, J.D. 1978. Geographic distribution: Symphimus leucostomus. Mexico, Oaxaca. Herpetological Review 9 (2): 62 - get paper here
- Johnson, Jerry D.; Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García Padilla, and Larry David Wilson 2015. The Herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (3): 272–329. - get paper here
- Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
- Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Pierce LJS, Painter CW 2020. The amphibians and reptiles of Colima, Mexico, with a summary of their conservation status. ZooKeys 927: 99-125 - get paper here
- Mata-Silva, Vicente, Jerry D. Johnson, Larry David Wilson and Elí García-Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (1): 6–62 - get paper here
- O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
- Rossman, D. A., & SCHAEFFER, G. C. 1974. Generic status of Opheodrys mayae, a colubrid snake endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ. No. 45, 12 pp. - get paper here
- Smith, Hobart M. & Taylor, Edward H. 1945. An annotated checklist and key to the snakes of Mexico. Bull. US Natl. Mus. (187): iv + 1-239 - get paper here
- Stafford, P.J. 2005. Diet and reproductive ecology of the Yucatán cricket-eating snake Symphimus mayae (Colubridae). Journal of Zoology 265: 301–310 - 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.
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