Gonionotophis

Gonionotophis is a genus of snakes, known commonly as African ground snakes and file snakes, in the family Lamprophiidae. The genus is endemic to Central Africa.

Gonionotophis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Lamprophiidae
Subfamily: Lamprophiinae
Genus: Gonionotophis
Boulenger, 1893[1]

Species

There are three recognized species in the genus:[2][3]

  • Gonionotophis brussauxi (Mocquard, 1889) – Brussaux's file snake, Mocquard's African ground snake
  • Gonionotophis grantii (Günther, 1863) – Grant's African ground snake, Grant's file snake, savanna lesser file snake
  • Gonionotophis klingi Matschie, 1893 – Kling's file snake, Matschie's African ground snake

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

Etymology

The specific name, brussauxi, is in honour of French anthropologist Eugène Brussaux.[4]

The specific name, grantii, is in honor of British physician Robert Edmond Grant.[4]

References

  1. "Gonionotophis ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de
  2. Kelly CMR, Branch WR, Broadley DG, Barker NP, Villet MH (2010). "Molecular systematics of the African snake family Lamprophiidae Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes: Elapoidea), with particular focus on the genera Lamprophis Fitzinger 1843 and Mehelya Csiki 1903". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58 (3): 415-426. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.010
  3. Genus Gonionotophis at 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. (Goniotophis brussauxi, p. 41; G. granti, p. 106).

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Gonionotophis, new genus, p. 323).
  • Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Genus Mehelya, p. 78).



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