Oxyrhopus, the false coral snakes, is a genus of 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]
| Oxyrhopus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Oxyrhopus melanogenys in Ecuador. | |
Scientific 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] | |
Species
editThe following 15 species are recognized as being valid.[4]
- Oxyrhopus clathratus A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – Duméril's false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus doliatus A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – Bibron's false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus emberti Gonzales, Reichle & Entiauspe-Neto, 2020
- Oxyrhopus erdisii (Barbour, 1913)
- Oxyrhopus fitzingeri (Tschudi, 1845) – Fitzinger's false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus formosus (Wied-Neuwied, 1820) – Formosa false coral snake, beautiful calico snake
- Oxyrhopus guibei Hoge & Romano, 1977
- Oxyrhopus leucomelas (F. Werner, 1916) – Werner's false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus marcapatae (Boulenger, 1902) – Boulenger's false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus melanogenys (Tschudi, 1845) – Tschudi's false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus occipitalis (Wied-Neuwied, 1824)
- Oxyrhopus petolarius (Linnaeus, 1758) – forest flame snake
- Oxyrhopus rhombifer A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – Amazon false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus trigeminus A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854[1] – Brazilian false coral snake
- Oxyrhopus vanidicus Lynch, 2009[5]
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
editSpecies 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
edit- ^ a b c d "Oxyrhopus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ 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).
- ^ MacCulloch, Ross D.; Lathrop, Amy; Kok, Philippe J. R.; Ernst, Raffael; Kalamandeen, Michelle (2009). "The genus Oxyrhopus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae) in Guyana: morphology, distributions and comments on taxonomy". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 49 (36): 487–495. doi:10.1590/S0031-10492009003600001.
- ^ a b Genus Oxyrhopus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ 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
edit
- Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Oxyrhopus, pp. 78–79, 104–105, 137 + photographs on pp. 135, 138, 190–191).
- Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification des Säugthiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart, and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (Oxyrhopus, new genus, pp. 185–186). (in German and Latin).