Lacépède's ground snake

Lacépède's ground snake (Erythrolamprus cursor) is a species of snake in the Colubridae family. It is endemic to Caribbean island of Martinique. Little is known of it scientifically, and few photographs exist.

Lacépède's ground snake
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Dipsadinae
Genus:	Erythrolamprus
Species:	E. cursor
Binomial name
Erythrolamprus cursor (Lacépède, 1789)
Synonyms
Coluber cursor Lacépède, 1789 Herpetodryas cursor (Lacépède, 1789) Dromicus cursor (Lacépède, 1789) Liophis cursor (Lacépède, 1789)[1][2]

Geographic range

It has been reported on Diamond Rock (Rocher du Diamant), which may be the last refuge for the species.

Taxonomy

The French naturalist Bernard Germain Étienne de la Ville, Comte de Lacépède first described it in 1789 in his Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares et de Serpens.

Erythrolamprus cursor 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. The relationships of Erythrolamprus species located in northern South America can be shown in the cladogram below, based on molecular DNA analysis:^[3]

	E. poecilogyrus (paraphyletic) E. ceii E. poecilogyrus (paraphyletic)
	E. miliaris E. miliaris E. typhlus (Brazil) (paraphyletic) E. reginae (paraphyletic) E. 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 Erythrolamprus cursor E. typhlus (French Guiana) (paraphyletic) E. cobella E. aesculapii (Brazil) (paraphyletic) E. ocellatus E. aesculapii (French Guiana & Guyana) (paraphyletic) E. bizona E. mimus

Behavior

The snake is diurnal and lives on the ground, usually hidden under leaves and wood. It hunts reptiles and amphibians.

Conservation status

The importation to Martinique of other species of snakes, and of mongooses to control them, have driven it to near extinction.

References

1. Boulenger, G.A. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, Printers.) London. xi + 382 pp. + Plates I.- XX. (Liophis cursor, pp. 139-140.)
2. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
3. 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.

External links

• Breuil, M. 1996. Erythrolamprus cursor. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 July 2007.

Further reading

• Lacepède, B.G.E. 1789. Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares et de Serpens. Vol. 2. Paris: Imprimerie du Roi, Hôtel de Thou. 671 pp. (Coluber cursor, p. 96.)