Snake ID, Peru

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Tremarctos
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Snake ID, Peru

Post by Tremarctos »

I took the attached photo along the Rio Tapiche in Loreto, Peru. Any thoughts on the ID? It was hiding in a brush pile at mid-day.
Image
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Owen
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Owen »

Pseustes shropshirei?
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Jeremy Westerman
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Jeremy Westerman »

all are wild guesses just based on head color scheme and country given alone:
could be a Liophis species, several in the genus look similar, several species listed from Peru
Liophis/Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus

these seem less likely but have dark top/yellow bottom heads
Chironius carinatus
Chironius multiventris
Chironius exoletus
pseustes poecilonotus
Gekkotan
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Gekkotan »

Erythrolamprus reginae to me.
Tremarctos
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Tremarctos »

Thanks for the responses! Liophis/Erythrolamprus reginae looks like a good match:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew1perez/6071732952

Are there any good references for neotropical snake identification?
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Ribbit
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Ribbit »

I haven't found any remotely complete references for neotropical snake identification, but there are at least a couple of helpful books for Peru:

Reptiles and Amphibians of the Amazon: An Ecotourist's Guide
by R. D. Bartlett and Patricia Bartlett
University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2003

This includes most of the common species and some rarer ones.


Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest
by William E. Duellman
Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2005

This is a complete guide to the herpetofauna of one particular spot in Peru.

john
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

I wouldn't recommend the latter for ID purposes, but it is a fantastic read!
Tremarctos
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Tremarctos »

Thanks for the reference suggestions. My university's library has both, and I'll take a look.

I photographed this superficially similar snake on a different trail a couple days later. Any thoughts?
Image
(I'm in the process of calibrating my monitor for printing, so the brightness might look a bit off)
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Ribbit
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by Ribbit »

It looks a fair amount like Drymoluber dichrous, but that species has 15 scale rows and your photo seems to show fewer.

Could be Chironius fuscus, which has 10 scale rows.

John
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intermedius
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Re: Snake ID, Peru

Post by intermedius »

#1, I agree is Erythrolamprus (Liophis) reginae

#2 is Chironius fuscus


- Justin
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