''Geophis godmani'', also known
commonly as Godman's earth snake, the yellow-bellied earth snake, and ''la culebra minadora de Godman'' in
American Spanish, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
in the
Family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
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
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
.
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 ...
, ''godmani'', is in honor of British naturalist
Frederick DuCane Godman
Frederick DuCane Godman DCL FRS FLS FGS FRGS FES FZS MRI FRHS (15 January 1834 – 19 February 1919) was an English lepidopterist, entomologist and ornithologist. He was one of the twenty founding members of the British Ornithologists' Un ...
.
Geographic range
''G. godmani'' is found in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
and
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
.
[ www.reptile-database.org.]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
of ''G. godmani'' is forest, at altitudes of , but is also found in forest clearings used as pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
.[
]
Description
''G. godmani'' is brownish black dorsally
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
, and yellow ventrally. It may attain a total length of , which includes a tail long. Its dorsal scales
In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...
are completely smooth, and they are arranged in 15 rows at midbody.[ Boulenger GA (1894).]
Behavior
''G. godmani'' is terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
and secretive, hiding under rocks and logs.[
]
Reproduction
''G. godmani'' 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
* Amaral A (1929). "''Estudos sobre ophídios neotropicos, XVIII – Lista remissiva dos ophídios da região neotropica''". ''Memórias do Istituto Butantan (São Paulo)'' 4: 126–271. (''Catastoma godmani'', new combination, p. 192). (in Portuguese).
* Boulenger GA (1894). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ''. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (''Geophis godmani'', new species, p. 322 + Plate XVI, figure 4, three views of head).
*Santamaría Martínez, Jerson Arturo; Mora, José Manuel; Alpízar Rodríguez, Jorge; Rodríguez Rojas, Emmanuel; Ramírez Alvarado, Jasdiel; Torres Medina, Ruth (2021). "Albinism in a Yellow-bellied Earth Snake (''Geophis godmani'' Boulenger, 1894) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) from Central Costa Rica". ''Caribbean Journal of Science'' 51 (1): 14–19.
* Savage JM (2002). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas''. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. xx + 945 pp. .
Geophis
Snakes of North America
Reptiles of Costa Rica
Reptiles of Panama
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
Reptiles described in 1894
{{Dipsadinae-stub