Royal ground snake

Royal ground snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Erythrolamprus
Species:	E. reginae
Binomial name
Erythrolamprus reginae (Linnaeus, 1758) [2]
Synonyms [3]
Coluber reginæ Linnaeus, 1758 Coronella reginae(Linnaeus, 1758) Liophis reginae(Linnaeus, 1758) Leimadophis reginae(Linnaeus, 1758)

The royal ground snake (Erythrolamprus reginae) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to northern South America.

Classification

Erythrolamprus reginae belongs to the genus Erythrolamprus , which contains over 50 species. The genus Erythrolamprus belongs to the subfamily Dipsadinae, which is sometimes referred to as the family Dipsadidae.

Recent phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular DNA evidence has shown that Erythrolamprus reginae is now likely paraphyletic. Erythrolamprus zweifeli was previously considered to be a subspecies of Erythrolamprus reginae and called Erythrolamprus reginae zweifeli. However, based on notable differences in coloration and scale counts, it is now considered to be a separate species. Erythrolamprus pseudoreginae of Tobago, named in 2019, was also previously considered to be part of Erythrolamprus reginae, but is now separate. ^[4]

The relationships of Erythrolamprus species located in northern South America can be shown in the cladogram below: ^[4]

	E. poecilogyrus (paraphyletic) E. ceii E. poecilogyrus (paraphyletic)
	E. miliaris E. miliaris E. typhlus (Brazil) (paraphyletic) Erythrolamprus reginae (paraphyletic) Erythrolamprus reginae (paraphyletic) E. zweifeli E. breviceps E. epinephalus (Peru) (paraphyletic) E. epinephalus (Costa Rica) (paraphyletic) E. pseudoreginae E. melanotus E. atraventer E. jaegeri E. almadensis E. juliae E. cursor E. typhlus (French Guiana) (paraphyletic) E. cobella E. aesculapii (Brazil) (paraphyletic) E. ocellatus E. aesculapii (French Guiana & Guyana) (paraphyletic) E. bizona E. mimus

Diet

It feeds on frogs, frog eggs, tadpoles, fish, small birds, and lizards.

Experiment

In an experiment conducted by biologists from the University of California, Berkeley, 10 royal ground snakes from the Colombian Amazon were starved for several days then offered highly toxic three-striped poison dart frogs ( Ameerega trivittata ). Six snakes refused to eat, while four attempted to consume the frogs, first dragging them across the ground, similar to the way birds rub toxins off their prey, before swallowing. Three of the four snakes survived, suggesting that their livers and possibly other physiological mechanisms can detoxify or neutralize the frog's poisons. ^[5]

References

1. Arzamendia, V., Catenazzi, A., Fitzgerald, L., Gagliardi, G., Giraudo, A., Gonzales, L., Ines Hladki, A., Nogueira, C., Ramírez Pinilla, M., Renjifo, J., Scrocchi, G., Urbina, N., Williams, J., Schargel, W., Rivas, G. & Murphy, J. 2019. Erythrolamprus reginae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T44581723A44581732. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44581723/44581732 Downloaded on 02 October 2018.
2. "Liophis reginae ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
3. "Erythrolamprus reginae ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
4. Murphy, John C.; Braswell, Alvin L.; Charles, Stevland P.; Auguste, Renoir J.; Rivas, Gilson A.; Borzée, Amaël; Lehtinen, Richard M.; Jowers, Michael J. (15 Jan 2019). "A new species of Erythrolamprus from the oceanic island of Tobago (Squamata, Dipsadidae)". ZooKeys (817): 131–157. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.817.30811 . PMC   6342902 .
5. "Why some animals can eat poison and cheat death". www.bbc.com. 2025-11-18. Retrieved 2025-11-19.

Further reading

• Amaral A (1936). "Colecta herpetologica no centro do Brasil ". Mem. Inst. Butantan9: 235–246. (Leimadophis reginae macrosoma, new subspecies, p. 238). (in Portuguese).
• Boos, Hans E. A. (2001). The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. xvi + 328 pp. ISBN   1-58544-116-3.
• Linnaeus C (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Coluber reginæ, new species, p. 219). (in Latin).
• Roze JA (1959). "Taxonomic Notes on a Collection of Venezuelan Reptiles in the American Museum of Natural History". American Museum Novitates (1934): 1–14. ("Leimadophis zweifeli, new species", pp. 4–7 + Figure 1, photograph of holotype, on p. 6).
• Wagler J (1824). In: Spix J (1824). Serpentum Brasiliensum species novae ou histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens, recueillies et observées pendant le voyage dans l'intérieur du Brésil dans les années 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, exécuté par ordre de sa Majesté le Roi de Baviére. Munich: F.S. Hübschmann. viii + 75 pp. + Plates I.- XXVI. (Natrix semilineata, new species, p. 33-34 + Plate XI., Figure 2). (in Latin and French).