Cope's mountain meadow snake
Adelophis copei, Cope's mountain meadow snake, is a vulnerable species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species was originally described by Alfredo Dugès in 1897, and is endemic to Mexico. It is the type species of the genus Adelophis Dugès, 1879.
The generic name, Adelophis, is from the Greek words adēlos meaning "uncertain" or "obscure" and ophis meaning "snake", together referring to Dugès' uncertainty of the taxonomic placement of the genus. The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withAdelophis copei is a small and moderately slender snake that has a maximum total length (including tail) of 392 mm (15.4 in). The tail is about one fifth of the total length.
Adelophis copei lives in the wetlands of west-central Mexico, in such areas in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, and northern Morelos.
Adelophis copei is threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and human settlement. Mexico has placed national laws protecting the species, and the species is being researched for more ways to protect it. It is protected in the Sierra Los Huicholes reserve.
