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Atractus

Genus of snakes

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
6 min read
Source updated July 23, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Atractus is a genus of snakes, commonly called ground snakes, in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. The genus includes more than 150 distinct species.

01Geographic range

Snakes of the genus Atractus are endemic to Central and South America.

02Description

In the genus Atractus the maxilla is short, with 8-12 teeth; the maxillary and mandibular teeth decrease in size posteriorly. The head is not distinct from the neck. The eye is small, with a round or subelliptic pupil. The nostril is between two nasal scales. The preocular is usually absent, and the loreal and prefrontal scales enter the orbit. The body is cylindrical. The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, in 15 or 17 rows. The ventral scales are rounded. The tail can be either short or rather long. The subcaudals are paired.

03Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.

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

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Atractus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

  • Atractus species (a-f).jpg by Alejandro Arteaga, Konrad Mebert, Jorge H. Valencia, Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, Nicolás Peñafiel, Carolina Reyes-Puig, José L. Vieira-Fernandes, Juan M. Guayasamin., CC BY-SA 4.0

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