Adult, 5,800′, Puebla, Mexico
Adult, 7,000′, Puebla, Mexico
SPOTTED GROUND SNAKE
Conopsis acuta – Cope 1886
IDENTIFICATION:
DISTRIBUTION:
Conopsis acuta is distributed in the highlands of northern Oaxaca, southern Puebla and adjacent Veracruz (in the vicinity of los Cumbres de Acultzingo), Mexico at elevations of 1800-2600 m.
HABITAT:
Conopsis acuta is found in a wide variety of habitats, including xeric desert mountains, pine, pine-oak and wet fir forests.
Habitat, 5,800′, Puebla, Mexico
Arid Mountain Habitat, 7,000′, Puebla, Mexico
Microhabitat, 7,000′, Puebla, Mexico
NATURAL HISTORY:
This fossorial snake seems to be abundant throughout it’s range. It is diurnal, and seasonally nocturnal but is rarely found abroad during daylight hours. Prey items are primarily invertebrates and lizards (particularly the Genus Eumeces). Small frogs (such as Eleutherodactylus) and young rodents are probably also occasionally consumed. C. acuta appears to be most active during the summer rainy season (June-September).This species is Ovoviviparous, giving birth to a small litter during the summer rainy season, normally in July/August.
TAXONOMY:
Until recently, Conopsis acuta was known as Toluca lineata acuta. Goyenechea & Flores-Villela (2006) synonomized Toluca with Conopsis and elevated acuta to specific level, including the old subspecies Toluca lineata wetmorei as a junior synonym.
TYPE:
Described as Ogmius acutus by Cope (1886). Holotype: USNM 30552. Type-locality: “…Tuchitan, on the Pacific side of the isthmus of Tehuantepec.” Restricted to “Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico” by Smith & Taylor (1950). Furthermore, Goyenechea & Flores-Villela propose to restrict the type-locality for this species to “2 millas E Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico (AMNH 91054).”
PERSONAL NOTES:
I have found this species on several occasions. The first was discovered in July, 2005 beneath a large limestone rock on a north-facing hillside at an elevation of around 5,800′ in the arid highlands of southwestern Puebla; the soil beneath all of the rocks was very moist, indicative of the daily afternoon thunderstorms recieved that time of year. I also found this species in Puebla, near the Veracruz border while searching for Xenosaurus (knob-scaled lizards) on an arid hillside (pictured above). All three Conopsis encountered at this locality were found along or just above an unused dirt canal at the base of the hillside, where the soil seemed to be retaining the most moisture from local thundershower activity. It is interesting to note that while the animal pictured above is typical of the old subspecies varians, two other Conopsis found in microsympatry displayed pattern characters more consistant with C. lineata. A photo of one of these individuals will be up shortly.
CONSERVATION STATUS:
REFERENCES:
Cope, E. T. (1886) In: Ferrari Perez, F. Catalogue of animals collected by the geographical and exploring commission of the Republic of Mexico. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 9:125-199.
Goyenechea, I., and Flores-Villela, O. (2006) Taxonomic summary of Conopsis, Gunther, 1858 (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zootaxa 1271:1-27.
Taylor, E. H., and Smith, H. M. (1942) The snake genera Conopsis and Toluca. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 28(15):325-363.