''Geophis immaculatus'', Downs's earth snake, is a small

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 ...

of the

colubrid 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 ...

family. It is native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. There are no recognized subspecies. Although not much has been documented about it, the population distribution is in abundance and is of least concern in terms of conservation status. ''G. immaculatus'' is most closely related to the '' Geophis fulvoguttatus,'' a snake found exclusively in the Metapan mountains of

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. The '' Geophis fulvoguttatus'' is characterised by more ventral scales and lateral reddish spots, which the ''G. immaculatus'' lacks. The two species are part of a group known as '' Geophis Dubius'' that includes 11 other snake species of

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. ...

, as categorised by Floyd Leslie Downs.

Habitat

''Geophis immaculatus'' is found in wet forests and

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s. Occasionally, it is observed in disturbed areas such as plantations. El Triunfo and Tacana Biosphere Reserve in Mexico are two places where it is known to inhabit.

References

Geophis Snakes of Central America Reptiles of Mexico Reptiles of Guatemala Reptiles described in 1967 {{Colubrids-stub