''Apostolepis dorbignyi'', also known
commonly as the Bolivian burrowing snake and Dorbigny's blackhead, is a
species of snake in the
family Colubridae
Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...
.
[ The species is native to western South America.
]
Etymology
The specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''dorbignyi'', is in honor of French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny.
Geographic range
''A. dorbignyi'' is found in Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
and Peru.
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of ''A. dorbignyi'' is savanna, at altitudes of about .
Description
A small snake, ''A. dorbignyi'' may attain a total length of about , which includes a tail about 5 cm (2 in) long.[ Boulenger GA (1896). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ....'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (''Apostolepis dorbignyi'', new combination, p. 236).]
Diet
''A. dorbignyi'' preys
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
predominately upon amphisbaenians and small snakes, but will also eat other organisms found in soil such as earthworms, other invertebrates, and larvae
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
of invertebrates.
Reproduction
''A. dorbignyi'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Freiberg MA (1982). ''Snakes of South America''. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (''Apostolepis dorbignyi'', p. 89).
* Harvey MB (1999). "Revision of Bolivian ''Apostolepis'' (Squamata: Colubridae)". ''Copeia'' 1999 (2): 388–409.
* Lema T (2001). "Fossorial snake genus ''Apostolepis'' from South America (Serpentes: Colubridae: Elapomorphinae)". ''Cuadernos de Herpetología'' 15 (1): 29–43.
* Schlegel H (1837). ''Essai sur la physionomie des serpens. Partie Générale.'' xxviii + 251 pp. AND ''Partie Descriptive''. 600 + xvi pp. Amsterdam: M.H. Schonekat. (''Calamaria d'orbignyi'', new species, pp. 30–31 in ''Partie Descriptive''). (in French).
dorbignyi
Reptiles described in 1837
Reptiles of Bolivia
Reptiles of Peru
Taxa named by Hermann Schlegel
{{Dipsadinae-stub