REPTILIA: SERPENTES: COLUBRIDAE 



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227 

 OXYBELIS 



Prepared by E. D. Keiser, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana 



OXYBELIS Wagler 



1826 Dryoph i s Fitzinger (preoccupied by Dryoph i s Dalman, 1823), Neue Classification der Amphibien: 60. 



Type-species: Coluber f ula i dus Daudin. 

 I83O Oxvbelj.s Wagler, Nat. Syst. Amphib.: I83. Type-species: Dry i nus aeneus Wagler. 

 1848 Plastor Gistl (substitute name for Oxybel i s Wagler), Na turgesch ichte des Tli i erre i chs: x. 



Distribution: Extreme southwestern United States, tropical Mexico and South America to Brazil, 

 Bol i V ia, and Peru. 



Content: Four species. 



Key to the species 



1. Lateral and vertebral dark stripes lacl<ing 2 



Prominent lateral and vertebral dark stripes 

 present arqenteus 



Clave de espec i es 



1. Sin Ifneas oscuras laterales y vertebrales 2 



Con ifneas oscuras laterales y vertebrales 



arqenteus 



2. Anal plate divided; supralabials usually eight 



or more 3 



Anal plate single; supralabials usually six 



brev i rostr i s 



3. Paired white or yellow lateral stripes on 



venter prominent on full length of body 



f ulq i dus 



Paired white or yellow ventral stripes absent, 

 or if present, weak and restricted to extreme 

 lateral edges of ventrals on anterior half of 

 body aeneus 



2. Placa anal dividlda; ocho mas supralab iales-3 

 Placa anal entera; seis supralab iales 



brev irostr i s 



3. Par de ifneas blancas o amarillas prominente a 



lo largo de todo el vientre fulq i dus 



Par de ifneas ventrales blancas o amarillas 

 ausente; si esta presente, las ifneas son 

 palidas y restrictas a los extremes de los 

 margenes laterales, en la mitad anterior 

 ventral del cuerpo aeneus 



OXYBELIS AENEUS (Wagler) 



182A Dry I nus aeneus Wagler, in Splx, Sp. Nov. Serp. Bras.: 12, pi. 3" Type-locality; "Habitat in 

 sylvis adjacentibus flumlnl Sollmoens, prope Ega." Ega is an older name for Tefe, Amazonas, 

 Brazil. 



1824 C.^ oluber J acum i natus W led. Isis von Oken, 6: 667. Type-locality: None stated; but Wied, 



Beitrage Naturgesch. Bras., 1825, 3^6, wrote: "Sie kommt besonders in der Gegend des Flusses 

 Espirito Santo vor." 



1825 Dry inus aura tus Bell, Zool. Jour., London, 2: 325» pl- 12. Type-locality: Mexico. 

 I83O [ Oxybelis ] aeneus — Wagler. Nat. Syst. Amphib.: I83. 



I854 Dryophis vittatus Girard. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc i . Phila., 1854: 226. Type-locality: Taboga, Bay 



of Panama. 

 1926 Oxybel i s m icrophthalmus Barbour and Amaral, Proc. New England Zool. Club, 9= 8f- Type-locality: 



Calabasas Canyon, Arizona. 

 1941 Oxybel i s potos i ens i s Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sc i . Bull., 2]: 128, pi. 6, figs. 4-6. Type-locality: 



Km 192, 3^ '<'" northwest of Cludad Maiz, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. 



Distribution: Low to moderate and occasionally intermediate elevations from southern Arizona south 

 along eastern and western coasts of Mexico, throughout Central America, and east and west of Andes 

 in northern half of South America. 



OXYBEL IS ARGENTEUS (Daudin) 



I8O3 Coluber arqenteus Daudin, Hist. Nat. Rept., 6: 336. Type-locality: Unknown. 

 1853 0.[ xYbel i s arqenteus — Dumeril, Mem. Acad. Sc i . Paris, 23: 487. 



1923 Oxybelis boulenoeri Procter, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, I923: 1062, fig. la-c. Type-locality: 

 Trinidad, Rfo Mamore, Bolivia. 



Distribution: Lowlands of northern South America east of Andes. 



