Xylophis is a small genus of snakes in the family Pareidae. The genus contains five species, all of which are endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India.[2][3] All five species are non-venomous. They constitute the monotypic subfamily Xylophiinae. They are the only pareid snakes found in India and the only snakes in the family found outside Southeast Asia.[1]
| Xylophis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Xylophis mosaicus from Munnar | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Pareidae |
| Subfamily: | Xylophiinae Deepak, Ruane & Gower, 2019[1] |
| Genus: | Xylophis Beddome, 1878 |
| Type species | |
| Geophis stenorhynchus Günther, 1875
| |
Species
editThe following five species are recognized as being valid:[2][4]
- Xylophis captaini Gower & Winkler, 2007 — Captain's wood snake, Captain's xylophis
- Xylophis deepaki Narayanan, Mohapatra, Balan, Das, & Gower, 2021 — Deepak's wood snake
- Xylophis mosaicus Deepak, Narayanan, Das, Rajkumar, Easa, Sreejith, & Gower, 2020 — Anamalai wood snake
- Xylophis perroteti (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) — Perrotet's mountain snake, striped narrow-headed snake
- Xylophis stenorhynchus (Günther, 1875) — Günther's mountain snake
References
edit- ^ a b Deepak, V.; Ruane, Sara & Gower, David J. (2019). "A new subfamily of fossorial colubroid snakes from the Western Ghats of peninsular India". Journal of Natural History. 52 (45–46): 2919–2934. doi:10.1080/00222933.2018.1557756. hdl:10141/622619. (Xylophiinae, new subfamily)
- ^ a b Xylophis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 2 July 2020.
- ^ Deepak, V.; Narayanan, Surya; Das, Sandeep; Rajkumar, K.P.; Easa, P.S.; Sreejith, K.A. & Gower, David J. (2020). "Description of a new species of Xylophis Beddome, 1878 (Serpentes: Pareidae: Xylophiinae) from the Western Ghats, India". Zootaxa. 4755 (2): 231–250. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4755.2.2. PMID 32230180. S2CID 214749359.
- ^ Narayanan, Surya; Mohapatra, Pratyush P.; Balan, Amirtha; Das, Sandeep; Gower, David J. (15 April 2021). "A new species of Xylophis Beddome, 1878 (Serpentes: Pareidae) from the southern Western Ghats of India". Vertebrate Zoology. 71: 219–230. doi:10.3897/vz.71.e63986. ISSN 2625-8498.
Further reading
edit- Beddome RH (1878). "Description of a new genus of snakes of the family Calamaridæ, from Southern India". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1878: 156. (Xylophis, new genus).