Loxocemus

Loxocemus bicolor,[4] sole member of the monotypic family Loxocemidae,[2] is a species of python-like snake found in Mexico and Central America. No subspecies are currently recognized.[5] Analyses of DNA show that Loxocemus is most closely related to the true pythons and the sunbeam snakes.[6][7]

Loxocemus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Loxocemidae
Cope, 1861
Genus: Loxocemus
Cope, 1861
Species:
L. bicolor
Binomial name
Loxocemus bicolor
Cope, 1861
Synonyms
  • Loxocemi - Cope, 1861
  • Loxocemina - Boulenger, 1879
  • Loxoceminae - Romer, 1956
  • Loxocemidae - McDowell, 1975[1]
  • Loxocemus - Cope, 1861
  • Plastoseryx - Jan, 1862[1]
  • L[oxocemus]. bicolor - Cope, 1861
  • Plastoseryx Bronni - Jan, 1862
  • Loxocemus Sumichrasti - Bocourt, 1876
  • Loxocemus Sumichrasti - Bocourt, 1876
  • Loxocemus bicolor - Boulenger, 1896
  • Loxocemus bicolor bicolor - Woodbury & Woodbury, 1944
  • Loxocemus bicolor sumichrasti - Woodbury & Woodbury, 1944[1]
Common names: Mexican python,[2] Mexican burrowing python,[3] Mexican burrowing snake.

Description

Adults grow to a maximum of 1.57 m (62 in) in length.[8] On average this snake grows to roughly 91 cm (2.99 ft). The body is stout and very muscular. The snout is shovel-shaped, with a narrow head and small eyes to facilitate burrowing. The species is described as terrestrial and semi-fossorial,[8] which makes them hard to observe and study. The color pattern is usually dark with patches of white scales, although occasionally after shedding all pigment will disappear, resulting in a white snake with only a small dark patch on its head.

Distribution and habitat

It is found along the Mexican Pacific versant at low to moderate elevations in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Morelos, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. From there, its range extends south through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The type locality given is "La Unión, San Salvador" (in El Salvador).[1]

Lifecycle

They are found in a variety of habitats, including tropical, moist, and dry forests. In Honduras and Guatemala, they also occur in dry inland valleys that drain into the Caribbean.[1] Their diet is believed to consist of rodents and lizards. They have also been observed eating iguana eggs. They are oviparous, laying small clutches of two to four eggs.[8]

References
  1. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. "Loxocemidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  3. Species Loxocemus bicolor at The Reptile Database. Accessed 17 August 2007.
  4. "Loxocemus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  5. "Loxocemus bicolor". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  6. Reynolds, RG; Niemiller, ML; Revell, LJ (2014). "Toward a Tree-of-Life for the boas and pythons: multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 71: 201–213. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.11.011. PMID 24315866. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  7. Pyron, R. A.; Reynolds, R. G.; Burbrink, F. T. (2014). "A Taxonomic Revision of Boas (Serpentes: Boidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3846: 249–260. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3846.2.5.
  8. Loxocemidae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 3 November 2008.

Further reading
  • Noonan, B. P.; Chippindale, P. T. (2006). "Dispersal and vicariance: The complex evolutionary history of boid snakes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40: 347–358. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.010. PMID 16624591.
  • Mattison, Chris (1999). Snake. DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-4660-X.
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