View Full Version : ID help please (tiny snake in Costa Rica)
Please help me ID this tiny brown, smooth, iridescent snake we found in a regeneration cloud forest in the Heredia mountains, Costa Rica, at about 2500 meters above sea level.
Thank you!
W
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1937409_854052609686_3239281914997689327_n.jpg?oh= 13228cc07dfaad6c92525b7339f7ba0a&oe=5705FF6F
Hi libael! This one had me researching for a couple hours. The beautiful colors and faint stripping had me looking at everything from Coniophanes to Tantilla, but that head is pretty distinctive. Without such a good photo this one would have been very difficult indeed, there seem to be quite a few superficially similar critters in that part of the world. My knowledge of Costa Rican herpetofauna is limited so I'm not positive, but based on what I can see in the photo and the location data you provided I think what you have here may be Rhadinaea calligaster (Thick Graceful Brown Snake). IUCN Red List (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/203583/0) dicribes the range of R. calligaster as follows:
This snake is known from humid montane elevations of Costa Rica's cordilleras and ranges to extreme western Panama (Savage 2002), at elevations of 1,200 to 2,850 meters (Wilson et al. 2010).
Here (http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=203583) is a link to the IUCN range map. Here (http://museo.biologia.ucr.ac.cr/Listas/Anteriores/HerpCRIng.htm) is a link to a list of all herps known in Costa Rica.
Hope this helps. Thanks for sharing, and if you have any more pictures or questions please do post.
Thank you so very much for taking the time to look into this. I am a little embarrassed that you would devote two hours of your day to it! But I also have to admit that this is very exciting.
Some friends from FB suggested Coniophanes fissidens, but the underbelly and lack of stripes/spots had me doubting. Somebody suggested that maybe it was because this one was so young (???). Also, I read somewhere that coniophanes is nocturnal species and this was taken in broad daylight. Then again, I have no clue about reptiles. I just admire them every time one is spotted during the walks.
Thank you also for the references. We live in an area where there is plenty of snakes (as well as everything else) and (surprisingly) almost no information available about them.
Now I'm off to read up onRhadinaea calligaster, thanks again!
Here's another cutie we met in a house garden (Caribbean coast, at pretty much sea level)
https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/12299287_847997449276_6071320465851450477_n.jpg?oh =3da0a1696af5d91a5a504bece7b16541&oe=5744B407
This one is much easier! This is a Parrot Snake (Leptophis sp.). Leptophis have a massive range from central Mexico to deep in South America. Having been found on the Caribbean coast this one should be a Leptophis ahaetulla. Here (https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/documents/Leptophis_ahaetulla.pdf) is a link to a brochure with information on Parrot Snakes.
For some reason my first (very long) reply to your post did not make it on here after I hit submit reply.
I was basically thanking you for taking so much out of your time to figure out the id of our little snake here. To be frank, it is a bit embarrassing and exciting at the same time. (embarrassing that you spent a couple of hours on it, and exciting that this snake's ID is so elusive)
Some of my facebook friends may have mistakenly IDed it as Coniophanes fissidens. Since then, I´ve read that it is nocturnal, has stripes and goes no higher than 1000 meters above sea level (I think?), which makes me doubt.
Of course, I know next to nothing when it comes to reptiles...but I am fascinated by how beautiful they are.
I was particularly impressed by the iridescence on one.
THanks again!
For some reason my first (very long) reply to your post did not make it on here after I hit submit reply.
This forum is strange sometimes. Your post may suddenly appear in a few days, or it may be forever lost in the tangled interwebs.
Don't worry about my time invested, I enjoy studying up on snakes from all around the world. I provide hundreds of IDs a year on various forums and Facebook groups, and I learn a little more with each one. As long as I'm on the subject of Facebook, you could try posting the picture on the ID group Snake Identification (https://www.facebook.com/groups/22137638452). I'd like to see some more opinions on that critter.
I also considered Coniophanes fissidens but the head just wasn't right, and, as you noted, the location didn't match. Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks so much for suggesting the facebook group. I posted the photo earlier today and it seems that a positive ID is still elusive :rolleyes:
Somebody came up with rhadinaea pulveriventris and hydromorphus concolor, but I have checked the elevation ranges for both of these and they aren't right.
He also mentioned coluber mentovarius, but somebody else dismissed it because of the head.
Now I am thinking, living in the Costa Rican Caribbean I should know more about snakes.....I have always been fascinated by them but unfortunately I was discouraged to "get into them" as a young girl. So, my question is, are there any guides/books you would recommend to a complete noob?
^_^
Interesting, if it has Ray and Kevin stumped it must be a tough one. Ray seems to have settled on Rhadinaea though. I have no idea why he would even suggest Coluber, that is a rather silly guess. I still feel pretty good about R. calligaster.
As for where to learn, Facebook can be a great resource. See if you can find a local snake ID group to join, you'll quickly start to recognize the commonly posted animals. If you want to get a bit deeper into it, there is a book I saw referenced many times while looking into this critter: The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas. It seems to be regarded as the definitive work on Costa Rican herpetofauna, though I have not read it myself. And, of course, feel free to ask questions here and share any more snakes you find with us :)
You were right!
It is a rhadinaea calligaster!
I posted it on https://www.facebook.com/SerpientesDeCostaRica/ and the admin was kind enough to take a look. He asked a couple of questions which confirmed it. He seemed pretty certain about it.
So yay! You got it right from the start :D
Now i can sleep soundly (I was getting slightly miffed by the end of last night)
Thanks again for all the great suggestions
Why was Coluber a silly guess?
I posted it on https://www.facebook.com/SerpientesDeCostaRica/ and the admin was kind enough to take a look. He asked a couple of questions which confirmed it. He seemed pretty certain about it.
Awesome! As usual, someone with local knowledge is the best resource. Thanks for the update.
Why was Coluber a silly guess?
The size and shape of the supraocular scales, the size and shape of the dorsal scales, the prominence of the upper labials, the size and location of the eye, the overall shape of the head, the size and proportions of the head relative to the body, the proportions of the body, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It was just a quick guess based entirely the on color of the snake.
I learned a lot about the small snakes found in Costa Rica thanks to your post, I hope you find lots more critters and share them with us!
P.S. Your missing post finally showed up lol.
I found another one today!
Well, not me...somebody doing the neighbor's garden. Luckily he brought it to me instead of killing her immediately.
I already know what this one is, but thought you might want to take a shot at it. It's probably very easy for you.
Very small (no more than 25 cms.), found at around 2 to 3pm, in a large garden that is next to a small, dense group of trees. Caribbean slope, Turrialba, at about 600 meters above sea level.
Not aggressive at all, shy and docile.
Here's a link to the photo
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=854598425866&set=a.710520164856.1073741831.12502233&type=3&theater
You seem to have good luck finding snakes! That head could only belong to a handful of genus indigenous to Costa Rica, a glance at the body immediately eliminated Imantodes (way too short) and a bit more investigation ruled out Dipsas. So I began looking into Sibon, but that is as far as I got because once I had Sibon in my head I noticed it in the comments. It is a hatchling Cloudy Snail-eater, Sibon nebulatus. Very cool find.
Hi there, again!
It's not a snake but I think he's a tiny golden cutie.
He doesn't look nor does he move like a lizard..could he be a salamander?
I found him while weeding a small garden of aloe Vera. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure he was burrowed. When found, he was curled un in a little ball and I thought it was dead...but it was probably asleep. It took him a good 30 seconds to one minute to wake up. Photos in next post.
https://scontent-mia1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/t1.0-9/12565353_857129214146_2304346742551955182_n.jpg?oh =46f2ba61a4f44fea22c48cdda6615812&oe=5701CBF1http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/libael/20160123_134826_zpsu0kegtsq.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/libael/20160123_134635_zps5wp9ogft.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/libael/20160123_134617_zpsctj6yx3z.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/libael/20160123_134729_zpsebh6ot5k.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/libael/media/20160123_134729_zpsebh6ot5k.jpg.html)
PS: Please ignore my dirty hands and nails...it was all the garden work :)
Looking through the internet for:
Salamander
Costa Rica
I get La Loma Salamander. Thoughts for others viewing?
Very cool little critter libael! But I am afraid I can be of virtually no help identifying it, snakes are my thing. I am inclined to agree with REM955, it looks like a Bolitoglossa (the webbed toes appear to be characteristic of the genus), but I really do not know much at all about Salamanders. Maybe somebody around here is an amphibian nerd. Awesome find nonetheless, thanks for sharing it with us.
Nightflight99
01-23-16, 10:04 PM
Its Bolitoglossa striatula.
Its Bolitoglossa striatula.
This looks good to me.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/libael/Mobile%20Uploads/20160116_163442_zpshpfneyjd.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/libael/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160116_163442_zpshpfneyjd.jpg.html)
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/libael/Mobile%20Uploads/20160116_163400_zpsasrmqeot.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/libael/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160116_163400_zpsasrmqeot.jpg.html)
Hi again... I don't know what's going on...but it seems there's snakes everywhere lately! A few days ago we went to a restaurant that had a big garden. While I was looking at their geese with my son I noticed a pretty large snake moving towards an ylang ylang tree. She turned out to be a spilotes pullatus or at least I'm pretty sure that's what she was. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Another very cool find. It appears to be a Pseustes poecilonotus, it has many common names including Puffing Snake (due to its throat puffing threat display) and Neotropical Bird Snake (due to its propensity fer eating birds and bird eggs). P. poecilonotus is another critter with a very large range, found from southern Mexico all the way to Bolivia. They are also extremely viable, coming in shades of yellow, red, orange, and even green. Juveniles are often banded or heavily mottled.
Thanks so much for replying. This one was gorgeous and I was impressed by her tree climbing speed.
Now, just so I can learn: how does one tell this is a pseustes poecinolotus and nor a spilotes pullatus? :) thanks again!
I'm not very good at explaining what I see, but I'll try. The head, as always, is the most important feature. The head of a Pseustes is longer than a Spilotes, it is notably flat vs the relatively bulbous Spilotes. The eyes of a Spilotes are set a bit lower on the head than a Pseustes, note how, in the second picture, the flat profile of the top of the head is disrupted by the eye. Pattern is somewhat less reliable, but still important to consider. This animal demonstrates a very cleanly divided two tone head, black on top and yellow on bottom, divided by a well defined line from front to back just below the eye. Spilotes have random, jagged, poorly defined black and yellow bands and lines on the head. The belly here is relatively clear before transitioning to solid black, Spilotes typically have uneven black bands on the belly before the transition to solid black. Google images of both and flip back and forth, focusing on specific details as well as the overall visual impression and you'll start to notice differences.
I'm not very good at explaining what I see, but I'll try. The head, as always, is the most important feature. The head of a Pseustes is longer than a Spilotes, it is notably flat vs the relatively bulbous Spilotes. The eyes of a Spilotes are set a bit lower on the head than a Pseustes, note how, in the second picture, the flat profile of the top of the head is disrupted by the eye. Pattern is somewhat less reliable, but still important to consider. This animal demonstrates a very cleanly divided two tone head, black on top and yellow on bottom, divided by a well defined line from front to back just below the eye. Spilotes have random, jagged, poorly defined black and yellow bands and lines on the head. The belly here is relatively clear before transitioning to solid black, Spilotes typically have uneven black bands on the belly before the transition to solid black. Google images of both and flip back and forth, focusing on specific details as well as the overall visual impression and you'll start to notice differences.
This sounds quite accurate and concise to me!
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to explain. It was very clear and I definitely learned something ^_^
I am hoping I will get better at finding these differences eventually.
I've been thinking about putting together a guide of non poisonous snakes from our area. This idea came up after talking to our neighbor, who is an organic vegetable farmer and runs into snakes all the time. He had mia taken a sibon nebulata for a poisonous snake and killed it. Had I not learned about this snake from this thread I couldn't have given him the right info. So thanks again :) this is great
No problem. Responses to your post on Snake Identification suggested that Pseustes has recently been revised and this snake is now known as Phrynonax poecilonotus. This sent me on a mad hunt to find the source of this change, genus changes are exciting.
Finding arboreal snakes in an evolutionary tree: phylogenetic placement and systematic revision of the Neotropical birdsnakes (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cesar_Barrio-Amoros/publication/259553919_Jadin_Robert_C._et_al._Finding_arboreal_ snakes_in_an_evolutionary_tree_phylogenetic_placem ent_and_systematic_revision_of_the_Neotropical_bir dsnakes._Journal_of_Zoological_Systematics_and_Evo lutionary_Research_52/links/555bd20c08aec5ac22324a2b.pdf)
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