Pseudalsophis elegans

This snake is found in the southwestern part of mainland Ecuador, as well as in coastal Peru and northern Chile, west of the Andes Mountains.^[2][10][11]

Molecular evidence suggests that P. elegans diverged from the ancestor of the Galapagos species of Pseudalsophis about 6.9 million years ago.^[5] Because the oldest of the Galapagos Islands is a little under 4 million years old, the ancestors of the Galapagos Pseudalsophis must have initially colonized Proto-Galapagos Islands that have since subsided beneath the ocean.^[5] At the time, the colonists probably would have been considered conspecific with P. elegans, but have since diversified into 9 species,^[5] whereas the mainland lineage has remained a single species.

This species is terrestrial and can be found in deserts, shrublands, and seasonally dry forests.^[2][3]

There are no detailed studies of the diet of P. elegans. They have been reported to feed on lizards, including the cercosaurine gymnophthalmid Macropholidus ruthveni^[12] and the teiid Dicrodon guttulatum.^[4]

Snakes of the genus Pseudalsophis are opisthoglyphous and mildly venomous, but not dangerous to humans.^[2]

A wild-caught female from Lambayeque, Peru, laid 6 eggs in March. No other information about reproduction has been reported.^[4]