Dixon's ground snake (''Erythrolamprus atraventer'') is a

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), ...

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 ...

in the family

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 species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Southeastern Brazil.

Classification

''Erythrolamprus atraventer'' belongs to the

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 ...

'' Erythrolamprus'', which contains over 50 species. The genus ''Erythrolamprus'' belongs to 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, which is sometimes referred to as the family Dipsadidae. The relationships of ''Erythrolamprus'' species located in northern South America can be shown in the

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

below, based on molecular DNA analysis:

Geographic range

''E. atraventer'' is found in the Brazilian states of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Habitat

''E. atraventer'' occurs in the upland areas of the Atlantic Forest, forest edges, in wet areas, and in both forested and open areas. It is terrestrial and diurnal.

Description

The holotype, a male, measures in total length, which includes tail. Female topotypes had relatively shorter tails. The belly is black, as indicated by its specific name (from Latin ''atra'' (=black) and ''venter'' (=belly)). Later studies indicate a maximum length of .

Reproduction

''E. atraventer'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Conservation status

The IUCN did not identify any overt threats affecting ''E. atraventer'', and lists the species as "Least Concern". It is locally common, e.g., in the Serra do Mar State Park.

References

Erythrolamprus Snakes of Brazil Endemic reptiles of Brazil Reptiles described in 1985 Taxa named by James R. Dixon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Dipsadinae-stub