Ridgehead snake

The ridgehead snake (Manolepis putnami) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to southeastern Mexico.

Ridgehead snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Manolepis Cope, 1885
Species:	M. putnami
Binomial name
Manolepis putnami (Jan, 1863)
Synonyms[2][3]
Dromicus putnami Jan, 1863 Tomodon nasutus Cope, 1864 Manolepis nasutus — Cope, 1885 Dromicus (Ocyophis) putnami — Bocourt, 1890 Philodryas putnami — Günther, 1895 Manolepis putnami — Boulenger, 1896

Etymology

The specific name, putnami, is in honor of American anthropologist Frederic Ward Putnam.^[4]

Taxonomy

M. putnami is the type species of the monotypic genus Manolepis.^[2]

Geographic range

M. putnami is found in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit, and Oaxaca.^[2]

Habitat

The natural habitat of M. putnami is forest.^[1]

Description

M. putnami may attain a total length of 55 cm (22 in), including a tail 14 cm (5.5 in) long. Dorsally, it is pale brown or yellowish, with a brown, darker-edged vertebral stripe three scales wide. Ventrally it is whitish, speckled with brown. The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, and in 19 rows at midbody. The anal plate is divided, and the subcaudals are in two rows.^[3]

M. putnami is rear-fanged (opisthoglyphous). It has 15 small, equal maxillary teeth, followed, after a space, by two enlarged grooved fangs. The anterior mandibular teeth are much longer than the posterior.^[3]