Ridgehead snake
The ridgehead snake (Manolepis putnami) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to southeastern Mexico.
| Ridgehead snake | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Manolepis Cope, 1885 |
| Species: | M. putnami |
| Binomial name | |
| Manolepis putnami (Jan, 1863) | |
| Synonyms[2][3] | |
Etymology
The specific name, putnami, is in honor of American anthropologist Frederic Ward Putnam.[4]
Taxonomy
M. putnami is the type species of the monotypic genus Manolepis.[2]
Geographic range
M. putnami is found in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit, and Oaxaca.[2]
Description
M. putnami may attain a total length of 55 cm (22 in), including a tail 14 cm (5.5 in) long. Dorsally, it is pale brown or yellowish, with a brown, darker-edged vertebral stripe three scales wide. Ventrally it is whitish, speckled with brown. The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, and in 19 rows at midbody. The anal plate is divided, and the subcaudals are in two rows.[3]
M. putnami is rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous). It has 15 small, equal maxillary teeth, followed, after a space, by two enlarged grooved fangs. The anterior mandibular teeth are much longer than the posterior.[3]
References
- Ponce-Campos, P.; García Aguayo, A. (2007). "Manolepis putnami". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63843A12721371. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63843A12721371.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- Species Manolepis putnami at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
- Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Manolepis p. 120; species Manolepis putnami, new combination, p. 120).
- Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Monolepis putnami, p. 213).
Further reading
- Heimes, Peter (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Chimaira. 572 pp. ISBN 9783899731002.
- Jan G (1863). Elenco sistematico degli ofidi descritti e disegnati per l'iconografia generale. Milan: A. Lombardi. vii + 143 pp. (Dromicus putnami, new species, p. 67). (in Italian).