View source for Xenodon rabdocephalus

{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Xenodon rabdocephalus.jpeg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Lamar, W. |author2=Porras, L.W. |author3=Sasa, M. |author4=Sunyer, J. |author5=Velasco, J. |author6=Cisneros-Heredia, D.F. |author7=Valencia, J. |author8=Gonzales, L. |author9=Catenazzi, A. |author10=Nogueira, C. de C. |author11=Schargel, W. |author12=Rivas, G. |date=2019 |title=''Xenodon rabdocephalus'' |volume=2019 |page=e.T198540A2532293 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T198540A2532293.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Xenodon rabdocephalus
| authority = ([[Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied|Weid]], 1824)
| synonyms = *''Coluber rabdocephalus'' <br />{{small|Wied, 1824}}
*''Xenodon rabdocephalus'' <br />{{small|— [[Leopold Fitzinger|Fitzinger]], 1826}}
*''Xenodon colubrinus'' <br />{{small|[[O. E. H. Wucherer|Wucherer]], 1862}}
*''Xenodon bertholdi'' <br />{{small|[[Giorgio Jan|Jan]], 1863}}
*''Xenodon angustirostris'' <br />{{small|[[Wilhelm Peters|W. Peters]], 1864}}
*''Xenodon suspectus'' <br />{{small|[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]] 1868}}
*''Xenodon bipraeoculis'' <br />{{small|Cope, 1885}}
*''Xenodon mexicanus'' <br />{{small|[[Hobart Muir Smith|H.M. Smith]], 1940}}
*''Xenodon rabdocephalus'' <br />{{small|— [[Ernest A. Liner|Liner]], 1994}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=RDB/>
}}

'''''Xenodon rabdocephalus''''', [[Common name|commonly]] known as the '''false fer-de-lance''', is a [[species]] of mildly [[venom]]ous [[Opisthoglyphous|rear-fanged]] [[snake]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Colubridae]]. The species is native to [[Central America]] and northern [[South America]]. There are two recognized [[subspecies]].

==Geographic range==
''X. rabdocephalus'' is found in southern [[Mexico]] in the states of [[Guerrero]], [[Veracruz]], [[Yucatan]] and [[Campeche]], through [[Guatemala]], [[Belize]], [[Honduras]], [[El Salvador]], [[Costa Rica]] and [[Panama]]. In northern South America it is found in [[Colombia]], [[Venezuela]], [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]], [[French Guiana]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]] and [[Brazil]] where it occurs in the states of [[Amapá]], [[Rondônia]], [[Pará]], [[Espírito Santo]] and [[Bahia]].<ref name=RDB/>

==Habitat==
The preferred natural [[habitat]] of ''X. rabdocephalus'' is [[forest]] in the moist lowlands and the premontane regions,<ref name=Savage/> at altitudes from sea level to {{convert|1,500|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" />

==Description==
''X. rabdocephalus'' is a medium-sized snake which reaches a total length (including tail) of {{convert|80|cm|in|abbr=on}}.  It is mainly brown with a series of brown and grey hourglass-shaped [[Dorsum (anatomy)|dorsal]] blotches on the body.<ref name=Savage/>

==Diet==
''X. rabdocephalus'' feeds mainly on [[frog]]s and [[toad]]s,<ref>[[:fr:Coleman Jett Goin|Goin CJ]], [[Olive Lynda Bown Goin|Goin OB]], [[:de:George Robert Zug|Zug GR]] (1978). ''Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition.'' San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. {{ISBN|0-7167-0020-4}}. (''Xenodon'', p. 149).</ref> including [[tadpole]]s.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" />

==Reproduction==
''X. rabdocephalus'' is [[Oviparity|oviparous]].<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /><ref name=RDB/>

==Subspecies==
Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the [[nominotypical subspecies]].<ref name=RDB/>

*''X. r. rabdocephalus'' <small>([[Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied|Wied]], 1824)</small>
*''X. r. mexicanus'' <small>[[Hobart Muir Smith|H.M. Smith]], 1940</small>

''[[Nota bene]]'': A [[trinomen|trinomial authority]] in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Xenodon''.

==References==
{{Reflist|
refs=
<ref name=RDB>{{EMBL species|genus=Xenodon|species=rabdocephalus}} www.reptile-database.org.</ref>
<ref name=Savage>[[Jay M. Savage|Savage JM]] (2002). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press. xx + 934 pp.  {{ISBN|0-226-73537-0}}.</ref>}}

==Further reading==
*[[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger GA]] (1894). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. (''Xenodon colubrinus'', pp.&nbsp;146–147).
*[[:es:Marcos Abraham Freiberg|Freiberg M]] (1982). ''Snakes of South America''. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. {{ISBN|0-87666-912-7}}. (''Xenodon rabdocephalus'', p.&nbsp;113 + photo on p.&nbsp;163).
*[[Peter Heimes|Heimes P]] (2016). ''Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I''. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Edition Chimaira. 572 pp. {{ISBN|978-3899731002}}.
*[[Giorgio Jan|Jan G]], [[:fr:Ferdinando Sordelli|Sordelli F]] (1866). ''Iconographie générale des Ophidiens: Dix-neuvième livraison.'' Paris: J.-B. Baillière et Fils. Index + Plates I-VI. (''Xenodon rhabdocephalus'' [sic] and ''X. bertholdi'', Plate IV). (in French).
*[[Hobart Muir Smith|Smith HM]] (1940). "Descriptions of New Lizards and Snakes from Mexico and Guatemala". ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' '''53''': 55-64. (''Xenodon mexicanus'', pp.&nbsp;57–59).
*[[Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied|Wied M]] (1824). "''Verzeichniss der Amphibien, welche im zweyten Bande der Naturgeschichte Brasiliens vom Prinz Max von Neuwied werden beschreiben werden'' ". ''Isis von Oken'' '''14''': 661-673. (''Coluber rabdocephalus'', new species, p.&nbsp;668). (in German).

{{Taxonbar|from=Q3022857}}

[[Category:Xenodon]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Mexico]]
[[Category:Snakes of Central America]]
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1824]]
[[Category:Snakes of South America]]
[[Category:Snakes of Brazil]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Colombia]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied]]


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