Oxyrhopus fitzingeri, also known commonly as Fitzinger's false coral snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to northwestern South America. There are two recognized subspecies.
Etymology The specific name, fitzingeri, is in honor of Austrian herpetologist Leopold Fitzinger.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Oxyrhopus fitzingeri, p. 91).
The subspecific name, frizzelli, is honor of the collectors of the holotype, Don L. Frizzell & Harriet E. Frizzell.
Geographic range O. fitzingeri is found in Ecuador and Peru. www.reptile-database.org.
Habitat The preferred natural habitats of O. fitzingeri are forest, savanna, and desert, at altitudes from sea level to .
Reproduction O. fitzingeri is oviparous.
Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Oxyrhopus fitzingeri fitzingeri Oxyrhopus fitzingeri frizzelli
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Oxyrhopus.
References
Further reading Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (Oxyrhopus fitzingeri, p. 105). Jan G (1863). Elenco sistematico degli ofidi descritti e disegnati per l'iconografia generale. Milan: A. Lombardi. vii + 143 pp. (Oxyrhopus fitzingeri, new combination, p. 93). (in Italian). Schmidt KP, Walker WF Jr (1943). "Snakes of the Peruvian Coastal Region". Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 24 (27): 297–324. (Oxyrhopus fitzingeri frizzelli, new subspecies, pp. 313–315). Tschudi JJ (1845). "Reptilium conspectus quae in Republica Peruana reperiuntur et pleraque observata vel collecta sunt in itinere". Archiv für Naturgeschichte 11 (1): 150–170. (Siphlophis fitzingeri, new species, p. 150). (in Latin).