Myersophis

Myers' mountain snake
Conservation status
	; Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Cyclocoridae
Genus:	Myersophis ; Taylor, 1963
Species:	M. alpestris
Binomial name
	Myersophis alpestris; Taylor, 1963

Last updated December 17, 2025

Myersophis is a genus of snake in the family Cyclocoridae. The genus contains only one species, Myersophis alpestris, also known commonly as Myers' snake and Myers' mountain snake, which is endemic to the Philippines.^[2]

Etymology

The genus Myersophis is named in honor of George Sprague Myers, who was an American herpetologist and ichthyologist.^[3]^: 186

Geographic distribution and habitat

Myersophis alpestris is only known from two specimens collected near Banaue from Mountain Province in northern Luzon. Both were collected at 1,980 metres (6,500 ft) above sea level. Nothing else is known about this species, such as its habitat, and the holotype has since been lost.^[1]^[2]

Reproduction

Myersophis alpestris is oviparous.^[2]

Taxonomy

A 2017 phylogenetic study found Myersophis to be the sister group to the genus Oxyrhabdium (both genera having diverged during the Oligocene), and assigned both, alongside some other Philippine endemic snake genera, to the new subfamily Cyclocorinae. Later studies uplifted Cyclocorinae to being its own family, Cyclocoridae.^[4]

References

1 2 Brown, R.; Diesmos, A. (2009). "Myersophis alpestris ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 e.T169828A6679428. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T169828A6679428.en . Retrieved 17 August 2022.
1 2 3 "Myersophis alpestris ". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
↑ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. xiii + 296. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.
↑ Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Brown, Rafe M. (2018). "Discovery of an old, archipelago-wide, endemic radiation of Philippine snakes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 119: 144–150. Bibcode:2018MolPE.119..144W. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.004 . ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29162550.

Brown, W.C.; Alcala, A.C. (1970). "The zoogeography of the herpetofauna of the Philippine Islands, a fringing archipelago". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series. 38, Festschrift for George Sprague Myers (6): 105–130. ("Myersophis alpetris [sic]", p. 114).
Taylor, E.H. (1963). "New and Rare Oriental Serpents". Copeia. 1963 (2): 429–433. (Myersophis, new genus, p. 429; Myersophis alpestris, new species, p. 430).
Weinell, J.L.; Hooper, E.; Leviton, A.E.; Brown, R.M. (2019). "Illustrated Key to the Snakes of the Philippines". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series. 66 (1): 1–49.
Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Paluh, Daniel J.; Singh, Amber L.; Blackburn, David C.; Brown, Rafe M. (2019). "Myersophis alpestris (Myers' Mountain Snake). Reproduction". Herpetological Review. 50 (1): 164–165.

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[iucn-1] 1 2 Brown, R.; Diesmos, A. (2009). "Myersophis alpestris ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 e.T169828A6679428. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T169828A6679428.en . Retrieved 17 August 2022.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 "Myersophis alpestris ". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2022-08-17.

[3] Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. xiii + 296. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5.

[4] Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Brown, Rafe M. (2018). "Discovery of an old, archipelago-wide, endemic radiation of Philippine snakes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 119: 144–150. Bibcode:2018MolPE.119..144W. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.004 . ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29162550.

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