Diaphorolepis Jan, 1863

Pyron, R. Alexander, Guayasamin, Juan M., Penafiel, Nicolas, Bustamante, Lucas & Arteaga, Alejandro, 2015, Systematics of Nothopsini (Serpentes, Dipsadidae), with a new species of Synophis from the Pacific Andean slopes of southwestern Ecuador, ZooKeys 541, pp. 109-147 : 117

Taxon classification Animalia Squamata Colubridae

Genus Diaphorolepis Jan, 1863

Diaphorolepis laevis Werner, 1923

Diaphorolepis wagneri Jan, 1863 (type species by monotypy)

Etymology.

Apparently from the Greek diaphoros for “differentiated” and lepis for “scales,” likely referring to the enlarged vertebral scale row as compared to the rest of the dorsal scales.

Description.

Relatively small-sized (<550mm SVL) dipsadine snakes restricted to the Darien in Panama and northern Andes of South America, with 16-25 maxillary teeth, 10-13 infralabials, 8 or 9 supralabials, fused prefrontals, internasals in contact, loreal present, 1-3 postoculars, 157-197 ventrals, 84-141 subcaudals, dorsal scales in (19-21)-19-17 rows, and expanded vertebral scale row with weak to strong double keeling.

Notes.

This genus was validly described by Jan (1863), and re-described by Werner (1897). Werner (1901) later incorrectly deemed Jan’s name a nomen nudum, and re-described the genus and type species, designating a neotype. However, this was an error of interpretation, later realized by Werner himself ( Werner 1929), and neither the re-description or neotype designation have any nomenclatural validity (see Bogert 1964). The lower subcaudal counts for some specimens likely represent truncated tails.