''Geophis hoffmanni'', also known
commonly as Hoffmann's earth snake, is a
species of
snake in the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
Dipsadinae of 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
Central 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 ...
, ''hoffmanni'', is in honor of German naturalist
Karl Hoffmann.
[ Beolens B, Watkins M, ]Grayson M
Grayson may refer to:
Places Canada
* Grayson, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Grayson No. 184, Saskatchewan
United States
* Grayson, California
* Grayson, Georgia
** Grayson High School
* Grayson, Kentucky
* Grayson, Louisiana
* Gray ...
(2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Geophis hoffmanni'', p. 125).
Geographic range
''G. hoffmanni'' 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 ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
,
Nicaragua, and
Panama.
[ www.reptile-database.org.]
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat of ''G. hoffmanni'' is
forest, at altitudes of , but it is also found in disturbed areas such as farms and gardens.
[
]
Description
A small species of snake, the holotype of ''G. hoffmanni'' has total length (including tail) of ( W. Peters, 1859). The dorsal scales are arranged in 15 rows throughout the length of the body. There are five or fewer upper labials
In reptiles, the supralabial scales, also called upper-labials, are those scales that border the mouth opening along the upper jaw. They do not include the median scaleWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates ( ...
, and the posterior chin shields
Chin shields or chinshields, genials scales on a snake are scales found on the underside of the snake's head towards the anterior and touching the lower labial scales.
Chin shields to the front of the snake (towards the snout) are called anterior c ...
contact each other. The ventrals
In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that cont ...
number 114–131, and the subcaudals number 23–32. Adults are uniformly dark brown or black dorsally, and are white or cream-colored ventrally. Juveniles have a paler nuchal
The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , "spinal marrow"). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''nu ...
collar.[
]
Behavior
''G. hoffmanni'' is terrestrial and secretive, sheltering under logs and rocks.[
]
Reproduction
''G. hoffmanni'' 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
* 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 hoffmanni'', pp. 319–320).
* Downs FL (1967). "Intrageneric relations among colubrid snakes of the genus ''Geophis'' Wagler". ''Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan'' 131: 1–193.
* Peters W (1859). "''Über die von Hrn. Dr. Hoffmann in Costa Rica gesammelten und an das Königl. zoologische Museum gesandten Schlangen'' ". ''Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' 1859: 275–278. (''Colobognathus hoffmanni'', new species, p. 276). (in German).
* Savage JM (2002). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas''. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press. xx + 945 pp. .
Geophis
Snakes of North America
Reptiles of Honduras
Reptiles of Nicaragua
Reptiles of Costa Rica
Reptiles of Panama
Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters
Reptiles described in 1859
{{Dipsadinae-stub