Oxyrhopus

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Oxyrhopus
Oxyrhopus melanogenys in Ecuador.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Dipsadinae
Genus: Oxyrhopus
Wagler, 1830[1]
Synonyms

Brachyruton, Clelia,

Coluber, Duberria, Erythrolamprus, Lycodon, Olisthenes, Phimophis, Pseudoboa, Rhinosimus, Scytale, Siphlophis, Sphenocephalus[2]

Oxyrhopus, the false coral snakes, is a

colubrid snakes that belong to the subfamily Dipsadinae. All 15 members of the genus are found in the northern part of South America, with the native range of the most widespread member, Oxyrhopus petolarius, extending into Central America and Trinidad and Tobago as well.[3][1]

Species

The following 15 species are recognized as being valid.[4]

The former Oxyrhopus venezuelanus Shreve, 1947[1] is currently considered a synonym of Oxyrhopus doliatus.[4]

Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Oxyrhopus.

Description

Species in the genus Oxyrhopus share the following characters:

Head distinct from neck. Eye moderate or small. Pupil vertically elliptic. Body cylindrical or slightly laterally compressed. Tail moderate or long.

Dorsal scales smooth, with apical pits, and arranged in 19 rows at midbody.

Maxillary teeth 10–15, subequal, followed after a gap by two enlarged grooved teeth, located just behind the posterior border of the eye.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Oxyrhopus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Oxyrhopus, p. 99).
  3. .
  4. ^ a b Genus Oxyrhopus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ^ Lynch JD (2009). "Snakes of the genus Oxyrhopus (Colubridae: Squamata) in Colombia: taxonomy and geographic variation". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo 49 (25): 319-337. (Oxyrhopus vanidicus, new species).

Further reading