''Chironius'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

colubrid Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s, commonly called sipos (from the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

word ''cipó'' for

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

), savanes, or sometimes vine snakes. There are 23 described

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in this genus.

Species

The following 23 species are recognized as being valid. *''

Chironius bicarinatus ''Chironius'' is a genus of New World Colubridae, colubrid snakes, commonly called sipos (from the Portuguese language, Portuguese word ''cipó'' for liana), savanes, or sometimes vine snakes. There are 23 described species in this genus. Speci ...

'' ( Wied, 1820) – two-headed sipo *''

Chironius brazili ''Chironius brazili'' is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and La ...

'' *''

Chironius carinatus ''Chironius carinatus'', commonly known as the amazon whipsnake, or the machete savane is a long and slender, nonvenomous colubrid snake. Geographic range It is endemic to the regions of Colombia, northern Brazil, Costa Rica, eastern Venezuela, ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) – machete savane *''

Chironius challenger ''Chironius challenger'' is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Guyana and Venezuela. References Reptiles described in 2010 challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainm ...

'' Kok, 2010 *'' Chironius diamantina'' *''

Chironius exoletus ''Chironius exoletus'' is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. It is commonly known as Linnaeus's sipo. Geographic range The snake is found in South America and Central America. References * Reptiles described in 1758 Taxa named ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Linnaeus' sipo *''

Chironius flavolineatus ''Chironius flavolineatus'', also known as Boettger's sipo, is a vine snake species in the family Colubridae, endemic to savannas and semiarboreal biomes in Brazil, and much of South America. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List sin ...

'' ( Boettger, 1885) – Boettger's sipo *''

Chironius flavopictus ''Chironius flavopictus'' is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic ...

'' *''

Chironius foveatus ''Chironius foveatus'', the South American sipo, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in ...

'' Bailey, 1955 *''

Chironius fuscus The brown sipo (''Chironius fuscus'') is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. Geographic range The snake is found in South America and Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – brown sipo *'' Chironius gouveai'' Entiauspe-Neto, Lúcio-Lyra, Koch, Marques-Quintela, Diesel-Abegg, & Loebmann, 2020 – Gouvea's sipo *''

Chironius grandisquamis ''Chironius grandisquamis'', the Ecuador sipo, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially ...

'' ( W. Peters, 1869) – Ecuador sipo *''

Chironius laevicollis ''Chironius laevicollis'', the Brazilian sipo, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in bo ...

'' (Wied, 1824) – Brazilian sipo *''

Chironius laurenti ''Chironius laurenti'' is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Bolivia and Brazil. The species was named in honor of Raymond Laurent. (''Chironius laurenti'', new species, p. 141). Taxonomy ''Chi ...

'' Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993 *'' Chironius leucometapus'' *'' Chironius maculoventris'' *'' Chironius monticola''

Roze Roze may refer to: People *Janis Roze, herpetologist * Jean Roze, French textile producer *Pierre-Gustave Roze (1812–1862), French naval commander * Ernest Roze, French mycologist; see Marasmiaceae * Magdalena Roze, Australian meteorologist * Mar ...

, 1952 – mountain sipo *'' Chironius multiventris''

Schmidt Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a List of craters on ...

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

, 1943 – long-tailed machete savane *'' Chironius quadricarinatus'' ( F. Boie, 1827) *''

Chironius scurrulus ''Chironius scurrulus'', commonly known as the smooth machete savane, is a large slender colubrid snake. It is also known as Wagler's sipo. Geographic range It is found in tropical rainforests of the Brazilian Amazon, Southeastern Colombia, nor ...

'' ( Wagler, 1824) – smooth machete savane *'' Chironius septentrionalis'' Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993 *'' Chironius spixii'' *'' Chironius vincenti'' ( Boulenger, 1891) – St. Vincent blacksnake ''

Nota bene (, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well". It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Chironius''.

Etymology

The specific names, ''brazili'' and ''spixii'', are in honor of Brazilian

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

Vital Brazil Vital Brazil Mineiro da Campanha, known as Vital Brazil (; April 28, 1865 – May 8, 1950), was a Brazilian physician, biomedical scientist and immunologist, known for the discovery of the polyvalent anti-ophidic serum used to treat bites of v ...

and German biologist

Johann Baptist von Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...

, respectively.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Chironius brazili'', p. 37; ''Chironius spixii'', p. 250).

Conservation status

The St. Vincent Blacksnake, '' Chironius vincenti'' is listed as critically

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

due to its extremely limited range on the Island of St. Vincent.

Species

Etymology

Conservation status

References

Further reading