Stenophis

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Stenophis
Stenophis variablis.jpg
Stenophis variablis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Lamprophiidae
Subfamily: Lamprophiinae
Genus: Stenophis
Boulenger, 1896

Stenophis is a genus of Madagascan arboreal snakes, part of the family Lamprophiidae. Species of Stenophis typically have large heads relative to their body size, and their bodies are elongated and often thin. [1] The genus includes both viviparous and oviparous species. [2] They usually have prolate pupils.

Contents

Taxonomy

Stenophis was previously considered to be part of the genus Lycodryas until the mid-1990s. [1]

A phylogenetic analysis in 2008 found that the genus is polyphyletic, [3] and a 2010 study proposed three monophyletic genera of the snakes currently in Stenophis and Lycodryas: Lycodryas (with Stenophis as a junior synonym), Phisalixella, and Parastenophis. [4]

Species

Known species of Stenophis include: [1]

Nota bene : A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Vences, Miguel; Glaw, Frank; Mercurio, Vincenzo; Andreone, Franco (2004). "Review of the Malagasy tree snakes of the genus Stenophis (Colubridae)". Salamandra, Rheinbach40 (2): 161-179.
  2. Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P. (2009). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles (3 ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Academic Press. p. 526. ISBN   978-0-12-374346-6.
  3. Vidal, Nicolas; Branch, William R.; Pauwels, Olivier S.G.; Hedges, S. Blair; Broadley, Donald G.; Wink, Michael; Cruaud, Corinne; Joger, Ulrich; Nagy, Zoltán Tamás (2008). "Dissecting the major African snake radiation: a molecular phylogeny of the Lamprophiidae Fitzinger (Serpentes, Caenophidia)". Zootaxa. 1945: 51–66. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1945.1.3. ISSN   1175-5334.
  4. Nagy ZT, Glaw F, Vences M (2010). "Systematics of the snake genera Stenophis and Lycodryas from Madagascar and the Comoros". Zoologica Scripta. 39 (5): 426–435. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2010.00435.x. S2CID   82683250.

Further reading