Myersophis
Myersophis is a genus of snake in the family Cyclocoridae. It contains only one species, Myersophis alpestris or Myers's mountain snake, which is endemic to the Philippines.[2]
| Myers' mountain snake | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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 | |
It 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.[2][1]
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.[3]
References
- 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.
- "Myersophis alpestris". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
- Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Brown, Rafe M. (2018-02-01). "Discovery of an old, archipelago-wide, endemic radiation of Philippine snakes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 119: 144–150. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.11.004. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29162550.