Lycodonomorphus is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.[2]
| Lycodonomorphus | |
|---|---|
| |
| L. inornatus, the Olive House Snake | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Lamprophiidae |
| Subfamily: | Lamprophiinae |
| Genus: | Lycodonomorphus (Lichtenstein, 1823)[1] |
| Species | |
|
Nine recognized species, see text. | |
Species
editThe following nine species are recognized as being valid.[3]
- Lycodonomorphus bicolor (Günther, 1893) — Tanganyika white-bellied water snake
- Lycodonomorphus inornatus (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)[4] — Olive house snake, Olive ground snake
- Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther, 1862) — Dusky-bellied water snake
- Lycodonomorphus leleupi (Laurent, 1950) — Congo dark-bellied water snake, Mulanje water snake
- Lycodonomorphus mlanjensis Loveridge, 1953 — Mlanje white-bellied water snake
- Lycodonomorphus obscuriventris V. FitzSimons, 1963 — Floodplain water snake
- Lycodonomorphus rufulus (Lichtenstein, 1823) — Common brown water snake
- Lycodonomorphus subtaeniatus Laurent, 1954 — Eastern Congo white-bellied water snake, Lined water snake
- Lycodonomorphus whytii (Boulenger, 1897)[5] — Whyte's water snake
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Lycodonomorphus.
Etymology
editThe specific name, whytii, is in honor of British naturalist Alexander Whyte (1834–1908), who worked in Nyasaland (now Malawi) from 1891 to 1897.[6]
References
edit- ^ EOL.org (Retrieved Mar. 22, 2010)
- ^ GBIF.org (Retrieved Mar. 22, 2010)
- ^ "Lycodonomorphus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Kelly CMR, Branch WR, Broadley DG, Barker NP, Villet MH (2010). "Molecular systematics of the African snake family Lamprophiidae, Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes: Elapoidea), with particular focus on the genera Lamprophis, Fitzinger 1843 and Mehelya Csiki 1903". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58 (3): 415-426. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.010
- ^ JCVI.org (Retrieved Mar. 22, 2010)
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lycodonomorphus whytii, p. 285).
Further reading
edit- Auerbach RD (1987). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Botswana: Mokwepa Consultants. 295 pp.
- Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Taylor and Francis, printers). 448 pp.
- Boycott RC (1992). An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland, 1992; online at https://web.archive.org/web/20120914175238/http://www.sntc.org.sz/checklst/sdreptam.html.
- Broadley DG (1967). "A review of the genus Lycodonomorphus Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae) in southeastern Africa, with a key to the genus". Arnoldia 3 (16): 1–9.
- Broadley DG, Cotterill FPD (2004). "The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot' ". African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35–61.
- Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller et Seidel. 106 pp. (in Latin).
- Fitzinger L (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museums zu Wien. Vienna: J. G. Heubner. 66 pp. (in German and Latin).
- Haagner GV (1992). "Life History Notes - Lycodonomorphus rufulus ". Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa (41): 42.
- Lichtenstein MHC (1823). Verzeichniss der Doubletten des zoologischen Museums der Königl. Universität zu Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten von Säugethieren, Vögeln, Amphibien und Fischen. Berlin: Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss./ T. Trautwein. x + 118 pp. (in German).
- Marais J (2004). A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa, Second Edition. Struik Publishers. 312 pp.
- Raw LRG (1973). "A review of the dusky-bellied water snake, Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther), with descriptions of two new subspecies". Annals of the Natal Museum 21 (3): 713–718. (Lycodonomorphus laevissimus fitzsimonsi nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus laevissimus nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus natalensis nov. subsp.)
External links
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycodonomorphus.
- Scale counts of Lycodonomorphus members.
- "Lycodonomorphus ". NCBI Taxonomy Browser. [1]