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 snakes in the family
Psammophiidae
Psammophiidae is a family of elapoid snakes. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family.
Genera
It contains 8 genera:
* '' Dipsina'' Jan, 1862
* ''Hemirhagerrhis'' ...
.
Geographic range
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Species
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' contains four
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 ...
which are recognized as being valid.. www.reptile-database.org.
*''
Hemirhagerrhis hildebrandtii
''Hemirhagerrhis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Psammophiidae.
Geographic range
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' is endemic to Africa.
Species
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' contains four species which are recognized as being valid.. www.repti ...
''
*''
Hemirhagerrhis kelleri
''Hemirhagerrhis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Psammophiidae.
Geographic range
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' is endemic to Africa.
Species
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' contains four species which are recognized as being valid.. www.repti ...
''
*''
Hemirhagerrhis nototaenia
''Hemirhagerrhis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Psammophiidae.
Geographic range
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' is Endemism, endemic to Africa.
Species
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' contains four species which are recognized as being valid.. ...
''
*''
Hemirhagerrhis viperina
''Hemirhagerrhis viperina'', commonly known as the viperine rock snake or western bark snake, is a species of snake in the family Psammophiidae. It is indigenous to areas within southwestern Angola and northwestern Namibia. It is partially arbo ...
''
*''
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 ''Hemirhagerrhis''.
Etymology
The specific name, ''hildebrandtii'', is in honor of German botanist
Johann Maria Hildebrandt
Johann Maria Hildebrandt (born 13 or 19 March 1847; died 29 May 1881) was a German explorer, collector, and scientist.
Biography
Hildebrandt was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, to a family of painters. Originally a machine maker, he lost an eye a ...
.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Hemirhagerrhis hildebrandtii'', p. 123; ''H. kelleri'', p. 139).
The specific name, ''kellerii'', is in honor of Swiss naturalist Conrad Keller.
Reproduction
Snakes of the genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' are
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.
References
Further reading
* Boettger O (1893). "''Übersicht der von Prof. C. Keller anlässlich der Ruspoli'schen Expedition nach den Somaliländern gesammelten Reptilien und Batrachier'' ". ''Zoologischer Anzeiger'' 16 (416): 113–119. (''Hemirhagerrhis'', new genus, p. 119). (in German).
* Boulenger GA (1896). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'', p. 119).
* Branch, Bill (2004). ''Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa''. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'', pp. 85–86).
Hemirhagerrhis
''Hemirhagerrhis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Psammophiidae.
Geographic range
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' is endemic to Africa.
Species
The genus ''Hemirhagerrhis'' contains four species which are recognized as being valid.. www.repti ...