Lichanura Cope, 1861

Szyndlar, Zbigniew & Georgalis, Georgios L., 2023, An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column, Vertebrate Zoology 73, pp. 717-886 : 717

Lichanura Cope, 1861

Material examined.

Lichanura orcutti Stejneger, 1889 (CAS Herp 200860); Lichanura trivirgata Cope, 1861 (MNHN-AC uncat.; SMF PH 21; UMMZ 190748).

Description (Figs 113-117).

Trunk vertebrae. Centrum shorter than wide; cotyle and condyle orbicular; neural arch depressed; posterior median notch of the neural arch deep; neural spine low; prezygapophyseal accessory processes short; hypapophyses disappearing at the level of ca. 50th vertebra; haemal keel weakly developed to absent; paracotylar foramina present in a minority of trunk vertebrae.

Trunk / caudal transition. A short hypapophysis is present in the last trunk vertebrae; it disappears in cloacal vertebrae. No subcentral structure occurs in the first caudal vertebrae. Paired haemapophyses appear in the second caudal vertebra and gradually become longer in succeeding vertebrae. Only rudimentary additional processes are present in caudal vertebrae (unlike Charina and Eryx ), particularly in anterior caudal vertebrae. Posterior caudal vertebrae are provided with an enlarged bifurcated neural spine and minute pterapophyses and they lack zygosphene-zygantrum articulations. A detailed description of the caudal osteology of Lichanura will be presented elsewhere.

Number of vertebrae: Lichanura orcutti (CAS Herp 200860): 294 (239+2+53), including a final fusion of about four vertebrae; Lichanura trivirgata (SMF PH 21): 285 (236+3+46); Lichanura trivirgata (MNHN-AC uncat.): 28+ caudal vertebrae (number of trunk and cloacal vertebrae unknown and posteriormost caudal vertebrae missing).

Data from literature (all for Lichanura trivirgata ): 235 ± 2 trunk and cloacal vertebrae plus 52+ caudal vertebrae ( Lichanura roseofusca of Alexander and Gans 1966); 254 trunk vertebrae plus 44 cloacal and caudal vertebrae ( Lichanura roseofusca of Holman 1967).