Leptodeira annulata ashmeadii (Hallowell)

Myers, C. W. & Donnelly, M. A., 2008, The Summit Herpetofauna Of Auyantepui, Venezuela: Report From The Robert G. Goelet American Museum-Terramar Expedition, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2008 (308), pp. 1-147 : 123

Leptodeira annulata ashmeadii (Hallowell)

Coluber ashmeadii Hallowell, 1845: 244 , 247. Lectotype (by Duellman, 1958: 44): ANSP 10093, from ‘‘the Republic of Columbia [sic], within two hundred miles of Caracas’’, collected by Samuel Ashmead.

Leptodeira annulata ashmeadi: Duellman, 1958: 43 (new combination; emended name with single - i termination now considered an ‘‘incorrect subsequent spelling’’).

Leptodeira annulata ashmeadii: Roze, 1966: 168 .

Roze (1958a: 265) recorded Leptodeira annulata from 400 m at the base of Auyantepui, but the only specimen from the summit is one collected by S. Gorzula on the northwestern sector of Auyantepui at 1630 m (06 ° 029N, 62 ° 379W) in November 1984 (Gorzula and Señaris, 1999: 167, 254). Various lowland species find their way onto most if not all tepuis in an irregular, unpredictable manner, although few species seem to be able to maintain populations on the highest summits. However, Gorzula (1992: 273) obtained seven of these snakes at elevations of 1920 to 2150 m on the neighboring Chimantá massif; two snakes were found at each of three camps and one specimen at a fourth camp. It therefore would seem that Leptodeira is permanently established at least in the highlands of Chimantá, where Gorzula found one specimen coiled inside a Brocchinia and the others under rocks.