Chironius multiventris

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Colubridae
Subfamilia: Colubrinae
Genus: Chironius
Species: Chironius multiventris
Subspecies: C. m. cochrane – C. m. foveatus – C. m. multiventris – C. m. septentrionalis
Name

Chironius multiventris Schmidt & Walker, 1943

Type locality: Selvas del Rio Madre de Dios, Dep. Madre de Dios, Peru.

Holotype: FMNH 38250.
Synonyms

Chironius multiventris multiventris Schmidt & Walker, 1943: 282
Chironius multiventris — Peters & Orejas-Miranda, 1970: 61
Chironius multiventris — Gasc & Rodrigues, 1980
Chironius multiventris — Hoogmoed & Avila-Pires, 1991: 84
Chironius multiventris — Starace, 1998: 153
Chironius multiventris — Kornacker, 1999: 72

References

Schmidt, Karl P. & Walker, Warren F. 1943. Peruvian snakes from the University of Arequipa. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Zoology, 24 (26): 279–296.
Gasc & Rodrigues, 1980. Liste preliminaire des Serpents de la Guyane francaise. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Paris, 2 (4): 559–598.
Kornacker, P.M. 1999. Checklist and key to the snakes of Venezuela. PaKo-Verlag, Rheinbach, Germany, 270 pp.
Chironius multiventris at the New Reptile Database. Accessed on 22 August 2008.

Vernacular names
English: South American Sipo

Chironius multiventris, commonly known as the long-tailed machete savane, is species of colubrid snake.

Geographic range

It is found in Peru, northern Venezuela, Colombia in the Guainía and Trinidad and Tobago.
Description

The body is elongate, and strongly laterally compressed. The tail is long, as the common name implies. The dorsum is olive to light brown. There is a narrow whitish, black-edged, vertebral stripe. The upper labials and the ventrum are yellowish.

The ventrals are 178–183, and the subcaudals are 172–202. (Both these counts are higher than in C. carinatus.) The dorsal scales are arranged in 12 rows anteriorly and at midbody, in 10 rows posteriorly. (C. carinatus has 8 rows posteriorly.)

Adults may attain a total length of 136 cm (4 ft 6 in), with a tail 56 cm (22 in) long.[1]
Diet

Chironius multiventris feeds on frogs.
Notes

Schmidt, K.P. and W.F. Walker. 1943. Peruvian snakes from the University of Arequipa. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Zoology 24(26):279-296.

References
Boos, Hans E.A. (2001). The snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, TX. ISBN 1-58544-116-3.