''Scaphiodontophis annulatus'', commonly known as the Guatemala neckband snake, 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 ...

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 southern

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 ...

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. ...

, and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. There are four recognized

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 ...

Geographic distribution

''S. annulatus'' is found in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

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 ''S. annulatus'' is

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

at altitudes from sea level to .

Subspecies

The following four subspecies are recognized as being valid. *''Scaphiodontophis annulatus annulatus'' *''Scaphiodontophis annulatus dugandi'' *''Scaphiodontophis annulatus hondurensis'' *''Scaphiodontophis annulatus nothus''

Reproduction

''S. annulatus 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 ...

Etymology

The

subspecific name In zoological nomenclature, a subspecific name is the third part of a trinomen. In zoology there is only one rank below that of species, namely "subspecies". In botanical nomenclature, there are several levels of subspecific names, such as ''vari ...

, ''dugandi'', is in honor of Colombian biologist

Armando Dugand Armando Dugand (July 23, 1906 – 1971) was a Colombian botanist, geobotanist Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography i ...

Roze Roze may refer to: People *Janis Roze, herpetologist * Jean Roze, French textile producer *Pierre-Gustave Roze (1812–1862), French naval commander * Ernest Roze, French mycologist; see Marasmiaceae * Magdalena Roze, Australian meteorologist * Mar ...

(1969).

References

* Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A H-A(1854). ''Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième'' olume 7 ''Première partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents non venimeux.'' Paris: Roret. xvi + 780 pp. (''Enicognathus annulatus'', new species, pp. 335–336). (in French). * Heimes P (2016). ''Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I''. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Chimaira. 572 pp. . * Henderson RW (1984). "''Scaphiodontophis'' (Serpentes: Colubridae): Natural History and Test of a Mimicry-Related Hypothesis". pp. 185–194. ''In'': Seigel RA, Hunt LE, Knight JL, Malaret L, Zuschlag NL (1984). ''Vertebrate Ecology and Systematics: A Tribute to Henry S. Fitch''. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 10. Lawrence: University of Kansas. viii + 278 pp. * Roze JA (1969). "''Una nueva coral falsa del genero ''Scaphiodontophis'' (Serpentes: Colubridae) de Colombia'' ". ''Caldasia'' 10: 355–363. (''Scaphiodontophis dugandi'', new species, figures 1–3). (in Spanish, with an English summary). * Schmidt KP (1936). "New Amphibians and Reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology". ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 49: 43–50. (''Sibynophis annulatus hondurensis'', new subspecies, pp. 48–49). * Taylor EH, Smith HM (1943). "A Review of the American Sibynophine Snakes, with the Proposal of a New Genus". ''University of Kansas Science Bulletin'' 29: 301–337 + Plates XXI–XXV. (''Scaphiodontophis nothus'', new species, pp. 320–322, Figure 8 + Plate XXIII, figure 2). Scaphiodontophis Snakes of Central America Reptiles of Colombia Reptiles of Mexico Reptiles of Honduras Reptiles of Nicaragua Reptiles of Panama Reptiles of Guatemala Reptiles of El Salvador Reptiles of Belize Reptiles described in 1854 Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron Taxa named by Auguste Duméril {{Colubrid-stub

Geographic distribution

Habitat

Subspecies

Reproduction

Etymology

References

Further reading