''Dipsas'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of non venomous

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Dipsadinae Dipsadinae is a large subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Dipsadidae). Species of the subfamily Dipsadinae are found in most of the Americas, including the West Indies, and are most diverse in South America. There a ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. C ...

. The genus ''Sibynomorphus'' has been moved here. Species of the genus ''Dipsas'' are known as snail-eaters.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Dipsas'' includes over 30 distinct

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. The following species are recognized as being valid. *'' Dipsas albifrons'' – Sauvage's snail-eater *'' Dipsas alternans'' – Jan's snail-eater *'' Dipsas andiana'' *'' Dipsas aparatiritos'' *'' Dipsas articulata'' – American snail-eater *'' Dipsas baliomelas'' *'' Dipsas bicolor'' – two-colored snail-eater *'' Dipsas bobridgelyi'' – Bob Ridgely's snail-eater *'' Dipsas bothropoides'' *'' Dipsas brevifacies'' – snail-eating thirst snake, short-faced snail-eater *'' Dipsas bucephala'' – neotropical snail-eater *'' Dipsas catesbyi'' – Catesby's snail-eater *'' Dipsas chaparensis'' *'' Dipsas cisticeps'' – neotropical snail-eater *'' Dipsas copei'' *'' Dipsas elegans'' *'' Dipsas ellipsifera'' *'' Dipsas gaigeae'' – Gaige's thirst snail-eater, Gaige's thirst snake, ''zicatlinán'' *'' Dipsas georgejetti'' – George Jett's snail-eater *'' Dipsas gracilis'' – graceful snail-eater *'' Dipsas incerta'' – Jan's snail-eater *'' Dipsas indica'' – neotropical snail-eater *'' Dipsas jamespetersi'' Orcés & Almendáriz, 1989 *'' Dipsas klebbai'' – Klebba's snail-eate *'' Dipsas latifrontalis'' – broad-fronted snail-eater, Venezuela snail-eater *'' Dipsas lavillai'' Scrocchi,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

& Rey, 1993 *'' Dipsas maxillaris'' – Werner's thirst snake *'' Dipsas mikanii'' ( Schlegel, 1837) *'' Dipsas neuwiedi'' ( Ihering, 1911) – Neuwied's tree snake *'' Dipsas nicholsi'' *'' Dipsas oligozonata'' Orcés & Almendáriz, 1989 *'' Dipsas oneilli'' Rossman & Thomas, 1979 – O'Neill's tree snake *'' Dipsas oreas'' – Ecuador snail-eater *'' Dipsas oswaldobaezi'' – Oswaldo Báez's snail-eater *'' Dipsas pakaraima'' *'' Dipsas palmeri'' – Palmer's snail-eater *'' Dipsas pavonina'' – northern snail-eater *'' Dipsas peruana'' – Peruvian snail-eater, Peru snail-eater *'' Dipsas praeornata'' *'' Dipsas pratti'' – Pratt's snail-eater *'' Dipsas sanctijoannis'' – tropical snail-eater *'' Dipsas sazimai'' , , (2010). "A new species of ''Dipsas'' Laurenti from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)"
''Zootaxa''
2691: 57–66
Preview
/ref> *'' Dipsas schunkii'' – Schunk's snail-eater *'' Dipsas temporalis'' – temporal snail-eater *'' Dipsas tenuissima'' – Taylor's snail-eater *'' Dipsas trinitatis'' – Trinidad snail-eater *'' Dipsas turgida'' (Cope, 1868) – Bolivian tree snake *'' Dipsas vagrans'' (Dunn, 1923) – Dunn's tree snake *'' Dipsas vagus'' (Jan, 1863) – Jan's tree snake *'' Dipsas variegata'' – variegated snail-eater *'' Dipsas ventrimaculata'' ( Boulenger, 1885) – Boulenger's tree snake *'' Dipsas vermiculata'' – vermiculate snail-eater *'' Dipsas viguieri'' – Bocourt's snail-eater *'' Dipsas welborni'' *'' Dipsas williamsi'' Carillo de Espinoza, 1974 – Williams's tree snake ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Dipsas''.

Description

''Dipsas'' species are slender, small to medium-sized snakes, often no longer than , and rarely longer than . Coloration and color pattern may vary, but often consist of black and brown, frequently with alternating rings separated by white.

Distribution and habitat

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the genus ''Dipsas'' are found from southern Mexico through Central America and South America, as far as Argentina and Paraguay.; (2009). "Morphological variation and systematics of ''Dipsas catesbyi'' (Sentzen, 1796) and ''Dipsas pavonina'' Schlegel, 1837 (Serpentes: Dipsadinae)"
''Zootaxa''
2203: 31-48
Abstract & excerpt
/ref>

Behavior and diet

Species in the genus ''Dipsas'' are mostly

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

snakes that mainly feed on

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have gastropod shell, shel ...

s and

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Behavior and diet

References

Further reading