Helicop leopardinus

Helicops leopardinus is distinguished from all its congeners, except H. danieli and H. gomesi by the combination of a greyish-olive to greyish-brown dorsum with 4–5 series of alternating dark spots, absent intergenials and 18–22 dorsal scale rows at mid-body (versus 23–26 in H. polylepis). From H. danieli, it differs in having a cream, yellow or red venter, checkered or banded black or both (versus cream venter with two medial rows of black semi-lunar marks). From H. gomesi, it differs in having no subcaudal keels; (for information on references, see Suppl. material 3).

Helicops leopardinus records range from north-western Argentina to the Estuary of the Amazon and from Ecuador to the Brazilian State Bahia. There are nearly no records in the south-eastern provinces of Brazil (Fig. 2c).

Morphology remark

ZSM 134/1947, a female, possesses 109 subcaudals (versus 53–88 in females of H. leopardinus). We interpret this as an abnormality (see also Tables 1, 2).