Magliophis exiguus (COPE, 1862)

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Higher Taxa	Colubridae (Dipsadinae), Alsophiini, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies	Magliophis exiguus exiguus (COPE 1863) Magliophis exiguus subspadix SCHWARTZ 1967
Common Names	E: Virgin Islands Miniracer, Ground Snake Spanish: Culebrita de jardín
Synonym	Dromicus exiguus COPE 1862: 79 Dromicus exiguus — GARMAN 1887: 282 Dromicus exiguus — BOULENGER 1894: 126 Leimadophis exiguus — STEJNEGER 1904: 698 Arrhyton exiguus — MAGLIO 1970 Arrhyton exiguum — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 585 Arrhyton exiguum — CROTHER 1999 Magliophis exiguus — ZAHER et al. 2009 Magliophis exiguum — HEDGES et al. 2009 Magliophis exiguum — WALLACH et al. 2014: 423 Magliophis exiguus — HEDGES et al. 2019 Magliophis exiguus exiguus (COPE 1863) Arrhyton exiguum exiguum — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 586 Magliophis exiguus exiguus — HEDGES et al. 2009 Magliophis exiguus exiguus — HEDGES et al. 2019 Magliophis exiguus subspadix SCHWARTZ 1967 Arrhyton exiguum subspadix — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 586 Magliophis exiguus subspadix — HEDGES et al. 2009 Magliophis exiguus subspadix — HEDGES et al. 2019
Distribution	Puerto Rico Bank; US and British Virgin Islands. exiguum: U.S. and British Virgin Is.: Isla Culebra, St. Thomas, Hassel Isl., Tortola, Peter Isl., Virgin Gorda, Anegada [HR 30: 112]. Type locality: St. Thomas and St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands; restricted to St. Thomas by Schwartz, 1967d. subspadix: southwestern Puerto Rico, from the vicinity of Parguera east to Playa de Arroyo. Type locality: “7.0 km E Guánica, Puerto Rico.”
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Syntypes: Unlocated. Holotype: MCZ 81121 [subspadix]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (genus): Species in this genus have 19 midbody scale rows, 137–165 ventrals, 71–102 subcaudals, no apical scale pits, eight upper labials, and nine lower labials (Table 2). Magliophis differs from each of the other alsophiine genera in at least one of those characters.
Comment	For illustrations see Stejneger, 1904; Schmidt, 1928; Schwartz, 1967; Philibosian and Yntema, 1977; Rivero, 1978; MacLean, 1982. Arrhyton exiguus stahli has been elevated to full species status. Type species: Dromicus exiguus COPE 1863 is the type species of the genus Magliophis ZAHER et al. 2009.
Etymology	The species name exiguus is a Latin word meaning little, short, scanty and/or poor, but is also used in the sense of “insignificant”, apparently referring to its small size. The genus was named after Vincent J. Maglio, whose 1970 work ushered in the modern era of study of the West Indian xenodontine radiation; gender masculine.
References	Boulenger, George A. 1894. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), London, xi, 382 pp. - get paper here Cope, E.D. 1862. Synopsis of the species of Holcosus and Ameiva, with diagnoses of new West Indian and South American Colubridae. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 14: 60-82. - get paper here Crother, Brian I. 1999. PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG WEST INDIAN XENODONTINE SNAKES (SERPENTES; COLUBRIDAE) WITH COMMENTS ON THE PHYLOGENY OF SOME MAINLAND XENODONTINES. Contemporary Herpetology 2 - get paper here Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24: 278-286. - get paper here Hedges SB, Powell R, Henderson RW, Hanson S, and Murphy JC 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology 67: 1–53 Hedges, S. Blair; Arnaud Couloux; Vidal, Nicolas 2009. Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of West Indian racer snakes of the Tribe Alsophiini (Squamata, Dipsadidae, Xenodontinae). Zootaxa 2067: 1-28 - get paper here MacLean, W.P. 1982. Reptiles and amphibians of the Virgin Islands. MacMillan Caribbean, London: vii + 54 pp. Maglio, Vincent J. 1970. West Indian Xenodontine colubrid snakes: Their probable origin, phylogeny, and zoogeography. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 141 (1): 1-54 - get paper here Philibosian, R. and Yntema, J.A. 1977. Annotated checklist of the birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians of the Virgin Islands & Puerto Rico. Information Services, Frederiksted, St. Croix, 48 pp. Rios-López, N. & Aide, T.M. 2007. Herpetofaunal dynomics during secondary succession. Herpetologica 63 (1): 35-50 - get paper here Rivero, J.A. 1978. Los anfibios y reptiles de Puerto Rico. M. Pareja Montana, 16, Barcelona, Espafia: x + 152 + 148pp. Schmidt, K.P. 1928. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands: Amphibians and land reptiles of Porto Rico, with a list of those reported from the Virgin Islands. New York Academy of Sciences 10 (1):160 pp. Schwartz, A. 1967. A review of the genus Dromicus in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Stahlia 9: 1-14 Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp. Stejneger, L. 1904. The herpetology of Porto Rico. Rept. United States Natl. Mus. 1902: 549-724. - get paper here Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.kingsnake.com/westindian/diapsida3.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/stshc/posts/374578248100113/ Google images

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