NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Hispaniolan Olive Racer
Hypsirhynchus melanichnus (Cope, 1862)
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
Hypsirhynchus melanichnus, the Hispaniolan olive racer or La Vega racer, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Hypsirhynchus melanichnus, is distinguished from other Caribbean snakes by its specific morphological features, specifically it doesn't have a furrow on the side of its head at the upper border of upper labials. This is not the same as the Alsophis and Borikenophis, snakes that are commonly found in the Caribbean. In addition, H. melanichnus differs in scale count from the generas Ialtris and Magliophis, having 17 midbody scale rows instead of 19 rows. H. melanichnus is also differentiated from the snake Genus Borikenophis in having 102 subcaudals instead of 106-145 subcaudals.
Wikipedia contributors, Hypsirhynchus melanichnus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:30:39.294019+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hypsirhynchus melanichnus (Cope, 1862)
- Name authority
- (Cope, 1862)
- Common name
- Hispaniolan Olive Racer
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Hypsirhynchus
- 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
- genusHypsirhynchus
- speciesHypsirhynchus melanichnus (Cope, 1862)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hypsirhynchus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaican Red GroundsnakeHypsirhynchus callilaemus (Gosse, 1851) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Jamaican Long-tailed GroundsnakeHypsirhynchus polylepis (Buden, 1966) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Jamaica RacerHypsirhynchus ater (Gosse, 1851) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hispaniola Cat-eyed SnakeHypsirhynchus ferox Günther, 1858 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Jamaican Black GroundsnakeHypsirhynchus funereus (Cope, 1862) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Hispaniolan RacerHypsirhynchus parvifrons (Cope, 1862) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tiburon Hog-nosed RacerHypsirhynchus scalaris Cope, 1862 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Alsophis melanichnus Cope, 1862 Cope, 1862 | synonym |
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=Hypsirhynchus&species=melanichnus 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:3P49S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.