Oxyrhopus petolarius, commonly known as the forest flame snake, is a species of mildly venomous snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to Central and South America. There are three recognized subspecies.
Taxonomy and nomenclature According to American herpetologist Jay M. Savage (2011) the correct scientific name should be Oxyrhopus petolarius.
Geographic range Oxyrhopus petolarius is found in central and northern South America, including Trinidad and Tobago.
Habitat The preferred natural habitats of Oxyrhopus petolarius are forest and savanna, at altitudes from sea level to .
Description Adults of Oxyrhopus petolarius may attain a total length of , which includes a tail long.
Coloration is variable. It usually consists of some combination of red and black rings or crossbands. In some individuals the light-colored crossbands are white instead of red on the anterior part of the body.
The dorsal scales are smooth, with apical pits, and are arranged in 19 rows at midbody.
Venom Oxyrhopus petolarius is rear-fanged, and its venom is extremely toxic to anole lizards.
Diet Oxyrhopus petolarius preys on lizards, frogs, other amphibians, tadpoles, small rodents, other small mammals, birds and their eggs, and probably other snakes.
Reproduction Oxyrhopus petolarius is oviparous.
Subspecies Three subspecies of Oxyrhopus petolarius are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.
Oxyrhopus petolarius digitalis (Reuss, 1834) Oxyrhopus petolarius petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758) Oxyrhopus petolarius sebae A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (Oxyrhopus petola, p. 105).
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Oxyrhopus.
Etymology The subspecific name, sebae, is in honor of Dutch naturalist Albertus Seba.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Oxyrhopus petola sebae, p. 240).
References
Further reading Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A[-H-A] (1854). Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux [= General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 7. Part 2. Containing the Natural Histories of the Venomous Snakes]. Paris: Roret. xii + pp. 781–1536. (Oxyrhopus petolarius, pp. 1033–1036). (in French). Linnaeus C (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Coluber petola, new species, p. 225; Coluber petolarius, new species, p. 225). (in Latin). Reuss A (1834). "Zoologische Miscellen. Reptilien, Ophidier ". Mus. Senckenbergiana, Frankfurt 1: 129–162. (Coluber digitalis, new species, p. 148 + Plate IX, figure 1). (in German). MacCulloch RD, Lathrop A, Kok PJR, Ernst R, Kalamandeen M (2009). "The genus Oxyrhopus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae) in Guyana: morphology, distributions and comments on taxonomy". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 49 (36): 487–495.
External links Pictures at ADW