Oxybelis

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Oxybelis
Oxybelis fulgidus 4.jpg
Oxybelis fulgidus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Oxybelis
Wagler, 1830
Synonyms

Coluber, Dryinus, [1] Dryophis [2]

Oxybelis is a genus of colubrid snakes, endemic to the Americas, which are commonly known as vine snakes. Though similar in appearance to the Asian species of vine snakes of the genus Ahaetulla , they are not closely related, and are an example of convergent evolution.

Contents

Geographic range

Species of Oxybelis are found from the southwestern United States, through Central America, to the northern countries of South America.

Description

Body slender and laterally compressed, tail long. Head elongated and distinct from neck. Pupil of eye round. [2]

Dorsal scales smooth or weakly keeled, with apical pits, and arranged in 15 or 17 rows at midbody. Ventrals rounded at sides, subcaudals paired (divided). [2]

Maxillary teeth 20–25, subequal, except for the 3–5 most posterior, which are slightly enlarged and grooved on the outer surface. Anterior mandibular teeth strongly enlarged. [2]

Species

There are 11 widely recognized species in the genus Oxybelis. [3]

Nota bene A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Oxybelis.

Etymology

The specific name, wilsoni, is in honor of American herpetologist Larry David Wilson. [4]

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<i>Oxybelis fulgidus</i> Species of snake

Oxybelis fulgidus, commonly known as the green vine snake or the flatbread snake, is a species of long, slender, arboreal colubrid snake, which is endemic to Central America and northern South America.

<i>Cemophora coccinea</i> Species of snake

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<i>Geophis</i> Genus of snakes

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<i>Oxyrhopus</i> Genus of snakes

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<i>Aspidura</i> Genus of snakes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dipsadinae</span> Subfamily of snakes

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<i>Pseustes</i> Genus of snakes

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Oxybelis rutherfordi, Rutherford’s vine snake, commonly known as the Horsewhip in Trinidad & Tobago, is a species of snake. The species was originally described in 2020 by Robert C. Jadin, Christopher Blair, Sarah A. Orlofske, Michael J. Jowers, Gilson A. Rivas, Laurie J. Vitt, Julie M. Ray, Eric N. Smith & John C. Murphy.

<i>Oxybelis inkaterra</i> Species of snake

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Oxybelis wilsoni, the Roatan vine snake, is a species of snake of the family Colubridae.

References

  1. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Genus Oxybelis, p. 565).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). London. xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Oxybelis, pp. 189-190, Figure 15).
  3. "Oxybelis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. 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. (Oxybelis wilsoni, pp. 287-288).

Further reading