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Opheodrys vernalis (HARLAN, 1827)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Smooth Green Snake
G: Glatte Grasnatter
S: Culebra Verde Lisa 
SynonymColuber vernalis HARLAN 1827: 361
Chlorosoma vernalis — BAIRD & GIRARD 1853: 108
Herpetodrays vernalis — HALLOWELL 1856: 243
Cyclophis vernalis — GÜNTHER 1858: 119
Liopeltis vernalis — COPE 1860: 560
Chlorosoma vernale — VERRILL 1863:196
Cyclophis vernalis — GARMAN 1884: 39
Contia vernalis — BOULENGER 1894: 258
Licopellis vernalis — REAGAN 1908: 31 (in error)
Eurypholis vernalis — POPE 1935: 281
Liopeltis vernalis — BURT 1935
Opheodrys vernalis — SCHMIDT & NECKER 1936: 63
Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi GROBMAN 1941
Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi — MCCLURE 1969
Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi — VAN DEVENDER & LOWE 1977
Opheodrys vernalis — STEBBINS 1985: 179
Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi — TANNER 1985: 637
Liochlorophis vernalis — OLDHAM & SMITH 1991
Opheodrys vernalis — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 190
Opheodrys vermlis borealis GROBMAN 1992: 178
Liochlorophis vernalis — LINER 1994
Opheodrys vernalis — CROTHER 2000
Liochlorophis vernalis blanchardi — DIXON 2000
Liochlorophis vernalis — TENNANT & BARTLETT 2000: 308
Liochlorophis vernalis — CNAH 2010
Opheodrys vernalis — CROTHER et al. 2012
Opheodrys vernalis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 506 
DistributionS Canada (incl. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island),
USA (scattered in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Montana, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine; Colorado [HR 32: 60], Texas),
Mexico (Chihuahua)

Type locality: E Pennsylvania or New Jersey (fide GROBMAN 1941).

blanchardi: USA (Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, SE Texas), Canada (Manitoba); Type locality: Spanish Peaks, 8,000 feet, Colorado.

borealis: Canada (Nova Scotia); Type locality, "Wilson Cove, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia."  
ReproductionTypically oviparous but some females appear to have “facultative” viviparity (BLACKBURN 1999). Egg retention is protracted, with a maximum postpositional fetal period of about 30 days (Oldham and Smith 1991, cited after Walley 2003). 
TypesHolotype: lost, originally ANSP (lost fide Grobman 1941: 10, Wallach et al. 2014)
Holotype: UMMZ 62439, Paratypes: UMMZ, USNM, LMK, FMNH [blanchardi]
Syntypes: NMC 25237 (Nova Scotia Museum of Canada), and CMN AR 25237 collected by J. Gilhen and E. Odense, 4 July 1973 [borealis] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy mostly after GROBMANN 1941 and WALLEY 2003.

Distribution: after GROBMANN 1941; see also map in WALLEY 2003. A single record from North Carolina is most likely in error (Stuart et al. 014).

Subspecies: after WALLEY 2003 who does not recognize any subspecies. Supposedly, O. v. blanchardi is characterized by a greater number of ventrals [holotype: 138](<140 in females and <131 in males of vernalis). Named after Dr. Frank Blanchard. Similarly, Grobman 1992 diagnoses borealis as a “A smooth-scaled Opheodrys closely related to 0. v. vernalis,from which it differs most conspicuously in having a lesser number of ventrals. Ventrals in females usually less than 127; usually less than 119 in males.”

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “vernalis” for "of springtime."

The generic name Liochlorophis is a combination of the Greek words lio, chloro, and ophis, meaning, respectively, smooth, green, and snake, in reference to the smooth scales and dorsal coloration. 
References
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  • Baird, S. F. and C. Girard. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1.-Serpents. Smithsonian Inst., Washington, xvi + 172 pp. - get paper here
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  • Blais, B. R., Smith, B. E., Placyk, J. S., Casper, G. S., & Spellman, G. M. 2021. Phylogeography of the smooth greensnake, Opheodrys vernalis (Squamata: Colubridae): divergent lineages and variable demographics in a widely distributed yet enigmatic species. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 134(4): 940–957. - get paper here
  • Burt, Charles E. 1935. Further records of the ecology and distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the middle west. American Midland Naturalist 16 (3): 311-336 - get paper here
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  • Grobman,A.B. 1992. Metamerism in the snake Opheodrys vernalis, with a description of a new subspecies. Journal of Herpetology 26 (2): 175-186 - get paper here
  • Groves, J.D. & F. Groves 1976. A Note on the Eggs and young of the Smooth Green Snake, Opheodrys vernalis in Maryland Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 12(4): 131-132. - get paper here
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