NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Savage's Earth Snake
Geophis downsi Savage, 1981
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Geophis downsi, also known as the Savage's earth snake, is a snake of the colubrid family. It is endemic to Costa Rica and only known from its type locality, Las Cruces Biological Station in the Puntarenas Province. It is named after Floyd Leslie Downs.
Only one specimen collected from under leaf litter in premontane rainforest is known. No further specimens were found during a study on leaf-litter fauna of the area in 2010–2012. There are no known threats to this species that was found in a private reserve.
Wikipedia contributors, Geophis downsi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:58:26.078977+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Geophis downsi Savage, 1981
- Name authority
- Savage, 1981
- Common name
- Savage's Earth Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Geophis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyDipsadinae
- genusGeophis
- speciesGeophis downsi Savage, 1981
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Geophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Geophis bellus Myers, 2003 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Costa Rican Earth SnakeGeophis brachycephalus (Cope, 1871) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chiapas Earth SnakeGeophis cancellatus Smith, 1941 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Geophis damiani Wilson, Mccranie & Williams, 1998 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dunn's Earth SnakeGeophis dunni Schmidt, 1932 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Godman's Earth SnakeGeophis godmani Boulenger, 1894 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoffmann's Earth SnakeGeophis hoffmanni (Peters, 1859) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sierra Coalcoman Earth SnakeGeophis incomptus Duellman, 1959 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Isthmian Earth SnakeGeophis isthmicus (Boulenger, 1894) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Benito Juarez's Earth SnakeGeophis juarezi Nieto-Montes de Oca, 2003 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Zurtuche's Earth SnakeGeophis juliai Pérez-Higareda, Smith & López-Luna, 2001 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mesa Central Earth SnakeGeophis laticinctus Smith & Williams, 1963 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Geophis&species=downsi Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3FR8T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.