Erythrolamprus miliaris

The military ground snake (Erythrolamprus miliaris) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to South America. In 1964 Gans gave it the common name common water snake. South American common names for E. miliaris include cobra-d'água (water snake) and cobra-lisa (smooth snake) in Portuguese, and simply culebra (snake) in Spanish. E. miliaris was originally described as Coluber miliaris by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The original generic name, Coluber, was indicated to mean 'common snake'. It is very polymorphic with a wide range of distribution. Six subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies. The subspecific name, merremi is in honor of German herpetologist Blasius Merrem. E. miliaris is found in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina. E. miliaris is stout-bodied (muscular) and relatively short-tailed. Tail length/total length ratios vary from 15.0%-19.8% with an average of 18.6%. Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of about 50 cm (about 20 in).