The Colombian longtail snake (''Enuliophis sclateri''), also known
commonly as the sock-headed snake and the white-headed snake, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...
of
snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
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 ev ...
. The species, which is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
''Enuliophis'', 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. ...
and northern
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''sclateri'', is in honor of British zoologist
Philip Lutley Sclater
Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...
.
[ 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
* ...
(2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Enuliophis sclateri'', p. 239).
Geographic range
''E. sclateri'' is found in
Honduras,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
,
Costa Rica,
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 Co ...
, and
Colombia.
[ 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 ''E. sclateri'' 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 .
Reproduction
''E. sclateri'' 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), a ...
.
[
]
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. (''Leptocalamus sclateri'', new species, p. 251 + Plate XII, figure 1).
* McCranie JR, Villa J (1993). "A new genus for the snake ''Enulius sclateri'' (Colubridae: Xenodontinae)". ''Amphibia-Reptilia'' 14 (3): 261–267. (''Enuliophis'', new genus; ''Enuliophis sclateri'', new combination).
* 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. . (''Enulius sclateri'', pp. 589–590).
* Taylor EH (1954). "Further Studies on the Serpents of Costa Rica". ''University of Kansas Science Bulletin'' 36 (2): 673–800. (''Enulius sclateri'', pp. 707–708).
Dipsadinae
Monotypic snake genera
Reptiles of Colombia
Reptiles described in 1894
Reptiles of Nicaragua
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
{{Dipsadinae-stub