''Mastigodryas'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

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 ...

s. Like some other colubrids, they are commonly called racers. It is a

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

genus, with members distributed from

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 ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and several islands in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Some authorities use the older

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

name, ''Dryadophis'', for these

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 ...

. Savage JM (2002). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 673.

Description

These snakes are cylindrical or somewhat laterally compressed in shape. The head is distinct from the rest of the body, as in many other colubrids. They have large eyes. They have

Duvernoy's gland The Duvernoy's gland is a gland found in some groups of ''colubrid'' snakes. It is distinguished from the venom gland and is not found in ''viperids'' or ''elapids''. It was named for French zoologist Georges Louis Duvernoy who first described t ...

s. The morphology of the

hemipenis A hemipenis (plural hemipenes) is one of a pair of intromittent organs of male squamates (snakes, lizards and worm lizards). Hemipenes are usually held inverted within the body, and are everted for reproduction via erectile tissue, much like tha ...

in various species has been helpful in elucidating their relationships, as little is known about the evolutionary origins of the genus. Jadin, Robert C.; Parkhill, Richard V. (2011)
"Hemipenis descriptions of ''Mastigodryas'' (Serpentes: Colubrinae) from northern Middle America, with comments on the use of hemipenial data in phylogenetics".
''Herpetology Notes'' 4: 207-210.

Behavior

These snakes are diurnal and actively forage for their prey.

Diet

The diet is varied. For example, '' Mastigodryas bifossatus'' is euryphagic, consuming a wide variety of

prey 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 the ...

items. A large part of its diet is made up of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s, and it will also take various

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s, and other snakes. Marques OAV, Muriel AP (2007)
"Reproductive biology and food habits of the swamp racer ''Mastigodryas bifossatus'' from southeastern South America".
'The Herpetological Journal'' 17 (2): 104-109.

Species

There are 13Mendoza, R. Juan Salvador; Rodríguez, S. Natalia (2010)
"Observations on some aspects of the predatory behavior of the diurnal snake ''Mastigodryas pleei'' (Duméril, Bibron and Duméril 1854) held in natural and captive conditions".
''Rev. Colombiana Cienc. Anim.'' 2 (2): 253-263. species. There may be as many as 18 if certain

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are elevated to species status, as has been suggested. Montingelli GG (2009)
''Revisão taxonômica do gênero'' Mastigodryas ''Amaral, 1934 (Serpentes: Colubridae).''
Thesis. São Paulo: Instituto de Biociências. (in Portuguese, with an abstract in English). Species include:''Mastigodryas'' Amaral, 1934.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2010. *'' Mastigodryas alternatus'' *'' Mastigodryas amarali'' *''

Mastigodryas boddaerti ''Mastigodryas boddaerti'', commonly known as Boddaert's tropical racer, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to tropical South America including Trinidad and Tobago. Distribution ''M. boddaerti'' occurs in Bol ...

'' *''

Mastigodryas bruesi Barbour's tropical racer (''Mastigodryas bruesi'') is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Caribbean. Etymology The specific name, ''bruesi'', is in honor American entomologist Charles Thomas Brues, wh ...

'' *'' Mastigodryas cliftoni'' *'' Mastigodryas danieli'' *'' Mastigodryas dorsalis'' *'' Mastigodryas heathii'' *'' Mastigodryas melanolomus'' *'' Mastigodryas moratoi'' Montingelli GG, Zaher H (2011)
"New species of ''Mastigodryas'' Amaral, 1934 from Brazilian Amazonia and Guyana (Serpentes: Colubridae)".
''Journal of Herpetology'' 45 (1): 111-119. *'' Mastigodryas pleii'' *'' Mastigodryas pulchriceps'' *'' Mastigodryas reticulatus'' ''

Nota bene (, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well". It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Mastigodryas''. The species, ''Mastigodryas reticulatus'' , has been returned to its original name, '' Herpetodryas reticulata'' .Montingelli GG et al. (2011)
"Revalidation of ''Herpetodryas reticulata'' (Peters, 1863) (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Ecuador".
'South American Journal of Herpetology'' 6 (3): 189-197.

Description

Behavior

Diet

Species

References

Further reading