REPTILIA: SERPENTES: BOIDAE 



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107 



EPl CRATES 



EPICRATES Wagler 



I83O Ep icra tes Wagler, Nat. Syst. Amphib.: 168. Type-species: Boa Cenchria Linnaeus. 

 1844 Ch ilabo-thrus Dumeril and Bibron, Erp. Gen., 6: 5^2. Type-species: Boa i noma tus 



Re i nhardt . 

 1849 Cliftia Gray. Cat. Sn. Brit. Mus.: 55. Type-species: Cliftia fusca Gray. 



I856 Epicarsius Fischer, Abh. Nat. Ver. Hamburg., 3= ?''• Type-species: Epicarsius cupreus Fischer. 

 I856 Homaloch ilus Fischer, Abh. Nat. Ver. Hamburg., J: 100, Type-species: Homaloch i lus striatus 



F ischer. 

 1881 Piesi qaster Seoane, Abh. Senck. Ges., 12: 217. Type-species: Pies i qaster Boettqer i Seoane. 



Distribution: From Costa Rica to Argentina; Antilles. 



Content: Seven species, six of which ( anqul i f er Bibron, exsul Netting and Coin, qrac i 1 i s Fischer, 

 inornatus Reinhardt, striatus Fischer, and subflavus Stejneger) are ex tral i m i tal . 



EPICRATES CENCHRIA (Linnaeus) 



1758 Boa Cenchr i a Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, Ed. 10: 21$. Type-locality: Surinam. 



1766 Boa Cenchr i 5 Gmelin, Systema Naturae, Ed. I3: IO83. Type-locality: Surinam. 



1788 Coluber tamach la Scopoli, Delicia Florae et Faunae Insubrlcae etc., J: 38, pi. 19, tig. 1. 



Type-locality: none given. 

 I8O3 Boa ternatea Daudin, Hist. Nat. Rept., 5' 153' Type-locality: none given. 



I8O3 Boa Aboma Daudin, Hist. Nat. Rept., 5= 132, pi. 62, fig. 2. Type-locality: Surinam and Guiana. 

 I8O3 Boa annulifer Daudin, Hist. Nat. Rept., $: 202, pi. 63, fig. 3. Type-locality: South America. 

 1816 Draco ocella tus Oken, Lehrb. Naturg., J: 227. We have been unable to verify this citation from 



Boulenger, Cat. Sn. Brit. Mus., 1, 1893, 94. 

 I83O [ Epicrates ] Cenchr ia —Waqler. Nat. Syst. Amphib.: I68. 

 1849 CI ift ia fusca Gray, Cat. Sn. Brit. Mus.: 99. Type-locality: India. 

 1854 Boa liberiensis Hallowell. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc i . Phila., I854: 100. Type-locality: Libenaj 



In error, corrected to South America by Hallowell, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1857> 66. 

 I856 Ep i cars i us cupreus Fischer, Abh. Nat. Ver. Hamburg, '}: 96? pl- 2, figs, la-lb. Type-locality: 



Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. 



Distribution: Costa Rica to Argentina; Trinidad and Tobago. 



Comment: Recent authors who have described subspecies of this species have not indicated where 

 they thought the synonyms listed above should be assigned. Some of them could easily be prior 

 names for currently recognized taxa. We cannot attempt to make any allocations at this time, 

 but some future worker will need to do so. 



Content: Nine subspecies. 



Key to the subspecies 



1. Dorsal pattern always including some con- 



spicuous dorsal spots 2 



Dorsum uniformly colored maurus 



2. Lateral ocell i, located in interspaces be- 



tween median distal spots, without outer 

 ring of light coloi 3 



Same ocelli bordered by light ring 5 



3. Lateral ocelli uniform, without lighter 



centei 4 



Lateral ocelli with central area lighter 

 than rest of spot- qa i qe i 



4. Ventrals with dark spotting on lateral mar- 



gins cenchria 



Ventrals not spotted laterally — hyqroph i lus 



Clave de subespecies 



1. Coloracion dorsal no uniforme, manchas 



bien conspicuas 2 



Coloracion dorsal uniforme, manchas obso- 

 letas o del mismo color del cuerpo — maurus 



2. Ocelos laterales multiples, ubicados en los 



intervalos de las manchas medio dorsales, 



no circundados de color claro-- 3 



Ocelos laterales multiples, ubicados en los 

 intervalos de las manchas medio dorsales, 

 circundados de color claro 5 



3. Ocelos laterales oscuros sin el centre 



bianco 4 



Ocelos laterales oscuros con el centre 

 bianco qa iqe I 



4. Cara ventral manchada de oscuro en su mar- 



gen lateral cenchria 



Cara ventral no manchada de oscuro ni aun 

 lateralmente hyqroph i lus 



