Ptyas

Ptyas
Ptyas mucosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Ptyas Fitzinger, 1843
Species
13, see text
Synonyms
CyclophiopsBoulenger, 1888 ZaocysCope, 1860

Ptyas is a genus of colubrid snakes. ^[1] This genus is one of several colubrid genera colloquially called "rat snakes" or "ratsnakes".

The generic name derives from Ancient Greek πτυάς, meaning "spitter", which referred to a kind of snake believed to spit venom in the eyes of humans, although in reality none of the Ptyas are known to spit venom. ^{[2] [3]}

Species

13 species are recognized: ^[1]

• Ptyas bachmaensis (Nguyen, Vo, Orlov, Phan, Le, Nguyen, Tran, Murphy & Che, 2024) – Bach ma green rat snake
• Ptyas carinata (Günther, 1858) – keeled rat snake
• Ptyas dhumnades (Cantor, 1842) – Cantor's rat snake ^{[4] [5]}
• Ptyas dipsas (Schlegel, 1837) – Sulawesi black racer
• Ptyas doriae Boulenger, 1888 – Doria's green snake
• Ptyas fusca (Günther, 1858) – white-bellied rat snake, brown rat snake
• Ptyas herminae (Boettger, 1895) – Sakishima green snake
• Ptyas korros (Schlegel, 1837) – Chinese ratsnake, Indo-Chinese ratsnake
• Ptyas luzonensis (Günther, 1873) – smooth-scaled mountain rat snake
• Ptyas major (Günther, 1858) – Chinese green snake
• Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus, 1758) – Oriental rat snake, Indian rat snake
• Ptyas multicincta (Roux, 1907) – many-banded green snake, North China green snake
• Ptyas nigromarginata (Blyth, 1854) – green rat snake, black-bordered rat snake
• Ptyas semicarinata (Hallowell, 1861) – Ryukyu green snake

References

1. Ptyas at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 March 2021.
2. "Ptyas dhumnades - Big-eyed Ratsnake".
3. "πτυάς". Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias.
4. David, P.; Vogel, G. (1996). The Snakes of Sumatra: An Annotated Checklist and Key with Natural History Notes. Edition Chimaira. Ed. Chimaira. p. 104. ISBN   978-3-930612-08-6 . Retrieved 10 June 2019. Coluber dhumnades Cantor, 1842 by original designation. Was synonymised with Ptyas by Wall (1923b) and Taylor (1965).
5. Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 162. ISBN   978-1-4214-0227-7 . Retrieved 10 June 2019.

Further reading

• Fitzinger, L. 1843. Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Braumüller & Seidel. Vienna. 106 pp. + indices. (Ptyas, p. 26.)