Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler, 1824)

Restrepo, Adriana, Molina-Zuluaga, Claudia, Hurtado, Juan P., Marín, Carlos M. & Daza, Juan M., 2017, Amphibians and reptiles from two localities in the northern Andes of Colombia, Check List 13 (4), pp. 203-237 : 223-225

Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler, 1824) : Figure 11E

Dryinus aeneus Wagler in Spix 1824: 12.

Oxybelis aeneus — Duméril and Bibron 1854: 819.

Phrynonax poecilonotus ( Günther, 1858) : Figure 11F Spilotes poecilonotus Günther 1858: 100 .

Phrynonax poecilonotus — Boulenger 1894: 20.

Material examined. Table 2.

Adults have either red or yellow ground color, with a variable dorsal pattern that may consist of black trans- versal bands or several black dots, mainly located in the posterior region of the scales. Other than coloration, the species differs from other sympatric snakes by hav- ing 21–25 dorsal rows at midbody, with the uppermost (3–19) rows keeled ( Savage 2002). Some authors rec- ognize an additional species in trans-Andean Colombia, Phrynonax shropshirei (Taylor 1954, Peters et al. 1970, Pérez-Santos and Moreno 1988), but according to Sav- age (2002), it seems to be a confusion given the wide color variation in P. poecilonotus . Likewise, the profound genetic distinction between P. poecilonotus and P. polylepis (Peters, 1876) revealed by Jadin et al. (2014), who accordingly resurrected the latter species, does apparently not correspond to any morphological distinction. Since neither Jadin et al. (2014) nor the original description (Peters 1876) offer any morphological characters to dis- criminate between these 2 species, we must assume such distinctions to be obscured by the exuberant variability in Phrynonax for now. Unable to answer the interesting question to which species our specimen actually pertains, at this point we choose a conservative approach and tentatively assign it to P. poecilonotus .

Scaphiodontophis venustissimus (Günther, 1893) : Figure 11G

Henicognathus venustissimus Günther 1893: 144 .

Scaphiodontophis venustissimus — Taylor and Smith 1943: 309.

Material examined. Table 2.