Adelophis copei

Adelophis copei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Adelophis
Species: A. copei
Binomial name
Adelophis copei
Dugès, 1879
Geographic range of Adelophis copei
Synonyms

Adelophis copei is a vulnerable species of colubrid snake described by Alfredo Dugès in 1897. The species is endemic to Mexico.[1][4] It is the type species of genus Adelophis Dugès, 1879.[4]

Etymology

The generic name, Adelophis, is from the Greek words adēlos meaning "uncertain" or "obscure" and ophis meaning "snake", together referring to Dugès' uncertainty of the taxonomic placement of the genus.[3] The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.[4][5]

Description

Adelophis copei is small and moderately slender snake that has a maximum total length of 392 mm (15.4 in). Tail is about one fifth of total length.[3]

Habitat and geographic range

Adelophis copei lives in the wetlands of west-central Mexico, in such areas in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, and northern Morelos.[1]

Conservation status

Adelophis copei is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and human settlement. Mexico has placed national laws protecting the species, and the species is being researched for more ways to protect it. It is protected in the Sierra Los Huicholes reserve.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ponce-Campos P, García Aguayo A (2007). "Adelophis copei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  2. Boulenger GA. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Ischnognathus copii, p. 289).
  3. 1 2 3 Rossman DA, Wallach V. 1987. "Adelophis Dugès", Mountain Meadow Snakes". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (408): 1-2.
  4. 1 2 3 Adelophis copei at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 6 February 2015.
  5. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Adelophis copei, p. 59).

Further reading

Dugès A. 1879. In Cope ED. 1879. Eleventh Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America. Proc. American Philosoph. Soc. 18: 261-277. (Adelophis copei, new species, pp. 265–266).

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