Rhadinella hempsteadae

Rhadinella hempsteadae
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Rhadinella
Species:	R. hempsteadae
Binomial name
Rhadinella hempsteadae (Stuart & Bailey, 1941)
Synonyms [2]
Rhadinaea hempsteadae Stuart & Bailey, 1941 Rhadinella hempsteadae — Myers, 2011

Rhadinella hempsteadae, also known commonly as Hempstead's pine woods snake, is a species of snake in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Guatemala. ^[2]

Etymology

The specific name, hempsteadae, is in honor of Guatemalan coffee planter Maria Luisa Hempstead. ^[3]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of R. hempsteadae is forest, at altitudes of 1,600–2,600 m (5,200–8,500 ft). ^[1]

Description

The holotype of R. hempsteadae, an adult male, has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 266 mm (10.5 in), plus a tail length of 128 mm (5.0 in). ^[4]

Behavior

R. hempsteadae is terrestrial and fossorial. ^[1]

Reproduction

R. hempsteadae is oviparous. ^[2]

References

1. Acevedo, M.; Ariano-Sánchez, D.; Johnson, J. (2022). "Rhadinella hempsteadae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022 e.T202417A217779061. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
2. Species Rhadinella hempsteadae at The Reptile Database
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Rhadinaea hempsteadae, p. 121).
4. Stuart LC, Bailey JR (1941).

Further reading

• Köhler G (2008). Reptiles of Central America, 2nd Edition. (With a foreword by Larry David Wilson). Offenbach am Main, Germany: Herpeton Verlag. 400 pp. ISBN   978-3936180282.
• Mendelson JR III, Kizirian DA (1995). "Geographic Variation in Rhadinaea hempsteadae (Serpentes: Colubridae) with Description of a New Species from Chiapas, Mexico". Herpetologica51 (3): 301–313.
• Myers CW (2011). "A New Genus and New Tribe for Enicognathus melanauchen Jan, 1863, a Neglected South American Snake (Colubridae: Xenodontinae), with Taxonomic Notes on Some Dipsadinae". American Museum Novitates (3715): 1–33. (Rhadinella hempsteadae, new combination, p. 28).
• Stuart LC, Bailey JR (1941). "Three New Species of the Genus Rhadinaea from Guatemala". Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (442): 1–11. (Rhadinaea hempsteadae, new species, pp. 2–4).