Coniophanes
Encyclopedia
Coniophanes is a large genus
of colubrid
snake
s, typically referred to as black-striped snakes, but they also have many other common names. The genus consists of 13 species
, and despite the common name, not all of them display striping.
, but range as far north as southern Texas
in the United States
, and as far south as Peru
in South America
.
in color, with black
striping down the sides and center of the back, and a red
or orange
underside. Some of the species, such as C. alvarezi, are solid brown.
. They are nocturnal, emerging from their underground retreats in the late evening to feed on frog
s, lizard
s, small rodent
s, and smaller snake
s.
in loose soil which hatch in around 40 days, depending on relative temperature and humidity. Hatchlings are approximately 17 cm (6½ inches) in length.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of colubrid
Colubrid
A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...
snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, typically referred to as black-striped snakes, but they also have many other common names. The genus consists of 13 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, and despite the common name, not all of them display striping.
Geographic range
They are found primarily in Mexico and Central AmericaCentral America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, but range as far north as southern Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and as far south as Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
Description
Snakes of the genus Coniophanes grow to a length of 31-46 cm (12-18 inches) and are typically brownBrown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
in color, with black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
striping down the sides and center of the back, and a red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
or orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...
underside. Some of the species, such as C. alvarezi, are solid brown.
Behaviour
Coniophanes snakes are secretive burrowers. They spend most of their time digging into loose soils, forest leaf litter, or under rotting cactusCactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
. They are nocturnal, emerging from their underground retreats in the late evening to feed on frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s, small rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, and smaller snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s.
Reproduction
They are oviparous, laying clutches of up to 10 eggsEgg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
in loose soil which hatch in around 40 days, depending on relative temperature and humidity. Hatchlings are approximately 17 cm (6½ inches) in length.
Species
- Chiapan stripeless snake, Coniophanes alvarezi Campbell, 1989 - Mexico
- Isla San Andres snake, Coniophanes andresensis Bailey, 1937 - Isla San Andres, ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
- two-spotted snake, Coniophanes bipunctatus - Mexico, GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, BelizeBelizeBelize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, and Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
- Coniophanes bipunctatus bipunctatus (Günther, 1858)
- Coniophanes bipunctatus biseriatus Smith, 1940
- Peters' running snake, Coniophanes dromiciformis (PetersWilhelm PetersWilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens...
, 1863) - Ecuador and Peru - yellowbelly snake, Coniophanes fissidens - Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia.
- Coniophanes fissidens convergens Shannon & Smith, 1950
- Coniophanes fissidens dispersus Smith, 1941
- Coniophanes fissidens fissidens (Günther, 1858)
- Coniophanes fissidens proterops (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1860) - Coniophanes fissidens punctigularis (CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1860)
- black-striped snake, Coniophanes imperialis - United States (Texas), Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.
- Coniophanes imperialis imperialis BairdSpencer Fullerton BairdSpencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
, 1859 - Coniophanes imperialis clavatus (PetersWilhelm PetersWilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens...
, 1864) - Coniophanes imperialis copei Hartweg & Oliver, 1938
- Coniophanes imperialis imperialis Baird
- Coniophanes joanae Myers, 1966 - Panama
- stripeless snake, Coniophanes lateritius - Mexico
- Coniophanes lateritius lateritius CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1862 - Coniophanes lateritius melanocephalus (PetersWilhelm PetersWilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens...
, 1869)
- Coniophanes lateritius lateritius Cope
- Coniophanes longinquus Cadle, 1989 - Peru
- Peninsula stripeless snake, Coniophanes meridanus SchmidtKarl Patterson SchmidtKarl Patterson Schmidt was an American herpetologist.-Biography:Schmidt was the son of George W. Schmidt and Margaret Patterson Schmidt. Schmidt's father was a German professor who, at the time of Schmidt's birth, was teaching in Lake Forest, Illinois. His family left the city in 1907 and settled...
& Andrews, 1936 - Cope's black-striped snake, Coniophanes piceivittis - Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
- Coniophanes piceivittis frangivirgatus Peters, 1950
- Coniophanes piceivittis piceivittis CopeEdward Drinker CopeEdward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
, 1869 - Coniophanes piceivittis taylori Hall, 1951
- five-striped snake, Coniophanes quinquevittatus (DumérilAuguste DumérilAuguste Henri André Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of Herpetology and Ichthyology at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris from 1857. His father André Marie Constant Duméril was also a zoologist...
, BibronGabriel BibronGabriel Bibron was a French zoologist. He was born in Paris. Son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect vertebrates in Italy and Sicily. He classified a number of reptile species with André Marie Constant...
& DumérilAndré Marie Constant DumérilAndré Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
, 1854) - Mexico and Guatemala - faded black-striped snake, Coniophanes schmidti Bailey, 1937 - Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.