Xenodon rabdocephalus

Xenodon rabdocephalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Xenodon
Species:	X. rabdocephalus
Binomial name
Xenodon rabdocephalus (Weid, 1824)
Synonyms
Coluber rabdocephalus Wied, 1824 Xenodon rabdocephalus — Fitzinger, 1826 Xenodon colubrinus Wucherer, 1862 Xenodon bertholdi Jan, 1863 Xenodon angustirostris W. Peters, 1864 Xenodon suspectus Cope 1868 Xenodon bipraeoculis Cope, 1885 Xenodon mexicanus H.M. Smith, 1940 Xenodon rabdocephalus — Liner, 1994[1]

Xenodon rabdocephalus, commonly known as the false fer-de-lance, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake endemic to Central America and northern South America.

Geographic range

Southern Mexico in the states of Guerrero, Veracruz, Yucatan and Campeche, through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. Northern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil where it occurs in the states of Amapá, Rondônia, Pará, Espírito Santo and Bahia.^[1]

Habitat

Forest in the moist lowlands and the premontane regions.^[2]

Description

A medium-sized snake which reaches a total length (including tail) of 80 centimetres (31 in). Mainly brown with a series of brown and grey hourglass-shaped dorsal blotches on the body.^[2]

Diet

Feeds mainly on frogs and toads.^[3]

Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recognised.^[1]

• X. r. rabdocephalus (Wied, 1824)
• X. r. mexicanus H.M. Smith, 1940

References

1. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Xenodon&species=rabdocephalus
2. Savage, Jay M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. xx + 934 pp. ISBN 0-226-73537-0.
3. Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR. 1978. Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Xenodon, p. 149).

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. (Xenodon colubrinus, pp. 146-147).

• Freiberg M. 1982. Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Xenodon rabdocephalus, p. 113 + photo on p. 163).

• Jan G, Sordelli F. 1866. Iconographie générale des Ophidiens: Dix-neuvième livraison. Paris: J.-B. Baillière et Fils. Index + Plates I-VI. (Xenodon rhabdocephalus [sic] and X. bertholdi, Plate IV).

• Smith HM. 1940. "Descriptions of New Lizards and Snakes from Mexico and Guatemala". Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 53: 55-64. (Xenodon mexicanus, pp. 57-59).

• Wied M. 1824. "Verzeichniss der Amphibien, welche im zweyten Bande der Naturgeschichte Brasiliens vom Prinz Max von Neuwied werden beschreiben werden." Isis von Oken 14: 661-673. (Coluber rabdocephalus, p. 668).