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Pseudaspididae
Pseudaspididae is a small family (biology), family of Elapoidea, elapoid snakes, containing only two species (each in their own Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus) from sub-Saharan Africa. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. However, some authors continue to place them as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae. The Asian mock vipers in the genus ''Psammodynastes'' were previously placed as Disjunct distribution, disjunct members of this family, but more recent studies support them being a significantly older lineage belonging to their own family, Psammodynastidae. Genera The family contains two species in two genus, genera. * ''Pseudaspis'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** ''Pseudaspis cana'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (mole snake) * ''Pythonodipsas'' Günther, 1868 ** ''Pythonodipsas carinata'' Günther, 1868 (western keeled snake) References {{Taxonbar, from=Q21229317, from2=Q4784728 Pseudaspididae Taxa named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudaspis Cana
The mole snake (''Pseudaspis cana'') is a species of snake. It has been placed in the family Lamprophiidae, and more recently in the family Pseudaspididae, along with the genus ''Pythonodipsas''. It is native to much of southern Africa, and is the monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Pseudaspis''. A study showed that ''P. cana'' is caught and consumed by the honey badger, among other species. Remains of the mole snake were found in the faeces, and suggest the consumed individuals were larger specimens. Taxonomy ''P. cana'' was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Its original binomial name was ''Coluber cana''. Since then, it has also been called ''Coronella cana'' by André Marie Constant Duméril, Gabriel Bibron and Auguste Duméril in 1854, before being reclassified as ''Pseudaspis cana'' by Edward Drinker Cope in 1864. ''P. cana'' is the only species in genus ''Pseudaspis''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudaspis
The mole snake (''Pseudaspis cana'') is a species of snake. It has been placed in the family Lamprophiidae, and more recently in the family Pseudaspididae, along with the genus '' Pythonodipsas''. It is native to much of southern Africa, and is the only member of the genus ''Pseudaspis''. A study showed that ''P. cana'' is caught and consumed by the honey badger, among other species. Remains of the mole snake were found in the faeces, and suggest the consumed individuals were larger specimens. Taxonomy ''P. cana'' was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Its original binomial name was ''Coluber cana''. Since then, it has also been called ''Coronella cana'' by André Marie Constant Duméril, Gabriel Bibron and Auguste Duméril in 1854, before being reclassified as ''Pseudaspis cana'' by Edward Drinker Cope in 1864. ''P. cana'' is the only species in genus ''Pseudaspis''. The genus has been placed in the family Lamprophii ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudaspididae
Pseudaspididae is a small family (biology), family of Elapoidea, elapoid snakes, containing only two species (each in their own Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus) from sub-Saharan Africa. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family. However, some authors continue to place them as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae. The Asian mock vipers in the genus ''Psammodynastes'' were previously placed as Disjunct distribution, disjunct members of this family, but more recent studies support them being a significantly older lineage belonging to their own family, Psammodynastidae. Genera The family contains two species in two genus, genera. * ''Pseudaspis'' Fitzinger, 1843 ** ''Pseudaspis cana'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (mole snake) * ''Pythonodipsas'' Günther, 1868 ** ''Pythonodipsas carinata'' Günther, 1868 (western keeled snake) References {{Taxonbar, from=Q21229317, from2=Q4784728 Pseudaspididae Taxa named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elapoidea
The Elapoidea are a Superfamily (biology), superfamily of snakes in the clade Colubroides, traditionally comprising the families Lamprophiidae and Elapidae. Advanced genomic sequence studies, however, have found lamprophiids to be paraphyletic in respect to elapids, and anywhere between four and nine families are now recognized. Taxonomy In describing the subfamily Cyclocorinae, Weinell et al. (2017) suggested some or all subfamilies of Lamprophiidae should be reevaluated at full family status as a way to prevent the alternative, which is classifying them as elapids. This was followed in later studies such as Zaher et al. (2019). Alternatively, Das et al. (2023) classified Cyclocoridae, Elapidae, Micrelaps, Micrelapidae, and Lamprophiidae as distinct families, with all other families being subfamilies of Lamprophiidae; however, the Reptile Database still retains these as distinct families. Molecular studies suggest a rapid radiation of this superfamily within the Eocene, with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pythonodipsas
The western keeled snake (''Pythonodipsas carinata'') is a species of snake in the family Pseudaspididae. It is native to western Namibia, southwestern Angola, and southwestern Zambia, and is the only member of the genus ''Pythonodipsas''. Taxonomy ''P. carinata'' is most closely related to ''Pseudaspis cana''. Together these two monotypic genera make up the subfamily Pseudaspidinae of the family Lamprophiidae. ''Pythonodipsas'' closely resembles the colubrine genus ''Spalerosophis'', although the two are not closely related. Description ''P. carinata'' is unusual in possessing greatly fragmented head shields, a peculiar maxillary dentition (3rd to 6th largest, posterior-most tooth large and grooved), a reduced number of palatine teeth (including a greatly enlarged "fang"), and hypapophyses developed throughout the vertebral column. It was once thought to be a possible evolutionary intermediate between vipers Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snakes
Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors and relatives, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most only have one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamprophiidae
The Lamprophiidae are a family of snakes found throughout much of Africa, including Seychelles. There are 89 species as of July 2022. Biology Lamprophiids are a diverse group of snakes. Many are terrestrial but some are fossorial (e.g. '' Amblyodipsas'') or semi-aquatic (e.g. '' Lycodonomorphus''). Some are fast-moving (e.g. ''Psammophis'') whereas others are slow (e.g. '' Duberria''). They are found in deserts, grasslands, tropical forests, and mountains. They feed on mammals, birds, other reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. Some species use constriction to subdue their prey (e.g. '' Boaedon''). When other snake families were formerly included within the Lamprophiidae, they were considered even more diverse in biology, although this is now known to not be the case. Most species are oviparous. Classification Most lamprophiids were historically considered to be members of the subfamily Lamprophiinae in the family Colubridae. The following classification follows Pyro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psammodynastes
''Psammodynastes'' is a genus of elapoid snakes, containing two species native to tropical and subtropical Asia. It is the only member of the family Psammodynastidae. They are also known as mock vipers due to their superficial resemblance to true vipers. Their Batesian mimicry of vipers extends to them having a fake venom fang at the front of the mouth revealed during threat displays, although they are actually rear-fanged snakes with weak venom meant for small animals. It was formerly placed in the family Pseudaspididae (alternatively the subfamily Pseudaspidinae of Lamprophiidae), which otherwise contains two monotypic snake genera native to Africa. However, more recent studies have found it to represent a basal member of the Elapoidea, more derived than Cyclocoridae but sister to the rest of the expansive group. It is thought to have diverged from the rest of the group during the early-mid Eocene. Although both species in this genus co-occur in parts of Indonesia, they occu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontology, paleontologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist, herpetology, herpetologist, and ichthyology, ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, he distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science, publishing his first scientific paper at the age of 19. Though his father tried to raise Cope as a gentleman farmer, he eventually acquiesced to his son's scientific aspirations. Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the Western United States, American West, prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey teams. A personal feud between Cope and paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led to a period of intense fossil-finding competition now known as the Bone Wars. Cope's financial fortunes soured after failed mining ventures i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. '' Panthera leo'' (lion) and '' Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clearly demonstrate both monophyly and validity as a separate lineag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family (, : ) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". The delineation of what constitutes a family—or whether a described family should be acknowledged—is established and decided upon by active taxonomists. There are not strict regulations for outlining or acknowledging a family, yet in the realm of plants, these classifications often rely on both the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of plant species. Taxonomists frequently hold varying perspectives on these descriptions, leading to a lack of widespread consensus within the scientific community ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
