Ninia

Ninia
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Ninia atrata, Hallowell's coffee snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Superfamily:	Colubroidea
Family:	Dipsadidae
Subfamily:	Dipsadinae
Genus:	Ninia Baird & Girard, 1853

Ninia is a genus of colubroid snakes commonly referred to as coffee snakes. The genus consists of 10 species that are native to Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America. Some species are also found on the Caribbean islands.

Species

There are currently 10 recognized species:

• Ninia atrata (Hallowell, 1845) – Hallowell's Coffee Snake
• Ninia celata McCranie & Wilson, 1995
• Ninia diademata Baird & Girard, 1853 – ringneck coffee snake, culebra de cafetal de collar
• Ninia espinali McCranie & Wilson, 1995
• Ninia franciscoi Angarita-Sierra, 2014
• Ninia hudsoni Parker, 1940 – Hudson's coffee snake
• Ninia maculata (W. Peters, 1861) – spotted coffee snake
• Ninia pavimentata (Bocourt, 1883)
• Ninia psephota (Cope, 1876) – Cope's coffee snake
• Ninia sebae (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – redback coffee snake, culebra de cafetal espalda roja

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ninia.

Further reading

• Baird SF, Girard C. 1853. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part I.—Serpents. Washington, District of Columbia: xvi + 172 pp. (Ninia, new genus, pp. 49–50).
• Freiberg M. 1982. Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Genus Ninia, p. 104).