''Dromicodryas'' 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 ...
of
pseudoxyrophiid 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 found only on the island of
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. They are harmless to humans.
Species
Two
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 ...
are currently recognized.
*''
Dromicodryas bernieri
''Dromicodryas'' is a genus of pseudoxyrophiid snakes found only on the island of Madagascar. They are harmless to humans.
Species
Two species are currently recognized.
*'' Dromicodryas bernieri'' – Bernier's striped snake
*'' Dromicodryas ...
'' – Bernier's striped snake
*''
Dromicodryas quadrilineatus'' – four-striped snake
''
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 ''Dromicodryas''.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''bernieri'', is in honor of French naval surgeon
Alphonse Charles Joseph Bernier (1802–1858), who collected natural history specimens in Madagascar.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Dromicodryas bernieri'', p. 24).]
References
Further reading
*
Boulenger G (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. (''Dromicodryas'', new genus, p. 189; species ''D. bernieri'', pp. 189–190; species ''D. quadrilineatus'', pp. 190–191).
External links
*
Pseudoxyrhophiidae
Biota of Madagascar
Reptiles of Madagascar
Snake genera
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
{{Madagascar-stub