Amnisiophis amoenus (JAN, 1863)
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Amnisiophis amoenus
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae (Dipsadinae, Echinantherini), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | E. [nicognathus] amoenus JAN 1863: 270 Enicognathus amoenus — JAN 1866 Aporophis amoenus — BOULENGER 1894 Lygophis amoenus — AMARAL 1929: 169 Lygophis amoenus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 185 Liophis amoenus Incertae sedis — DIXON 1980 Echinanthera amoenus — DI BERNARDO 1992 Echinanthera amoena — SCHARGEL et al. 2005 Echinanthera amoena — WALLACH et al. 2014: 253 Echinanthera amoena — NOGUEIRA et al. 2019 Amnisiophis amoenus — ABEGG et al. 2022 |
| Distribution | SE Brazil (from S Minas Gerais to S Paraná; Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro) Type locality: "Patria?" [=Unknown]. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MSNM, a 590 mm specimen. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): “Amnisiophis amoenus can be distinguished by (1) usually eight supralabials, with 2nd–3rd touching the loreal and 3rd–5th touching the orbit; (2) 17/17/17 dorsal scale rows, usually with one or two apical pits; (3) a dorsal color that shifts from green on the back of the head and first third of the body to brown on the midbody and dark brown on the posterior part;(4)midventralportionwithtransversebandsatthebase of the ventral scales, especially observable in adults; (5) dorsal scales of the 3rd row with a light spot forming a continuous line from the anterior part of the body toward the tail; (6) hemipenis slightly bilobed, with an interspinal asulcate gap and absence of an enlarged proximal spine; (7) supratemporals usually contact parietal; (8) dorsolateral crests of the parietal conspicuous and abruptly tapered in the posterior region, close to the contact with supraoccipital; (9) parabasisfenoid lateral crests conspicuous; (10) large number of maxillary (27–33), palatine (20–21), pterygoid (31–33) and dentary teeth (34–36) (Figures 3D, 5G, 7B, 8A and Table 1).” (Abegg et al. 2022) |
| Comment | belongs to the “Rhadinaea brevirostris group” sensu Myers (1974) Type species: E. [nicognathus] amoenus JAN 1863: 270 is the type species of the genus Amnisiophis Abegg et al. 2022. |
| Etymology | Named after Latin “amoenus” = pleasing or lovely. The genus was named after the Latin word amnis (stream of water, river) and the Greek word oφις (ophis =snake) (Liddell and Scott, 1883; Brown, 1954). This name was chosen in reference to the habit of the monotypic species A. amoenus, whose individuals inhabit the margins of forest streams. The genus name is masculine. |
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