''Hydrodynastes'' is a small

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 large

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 ...

snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae. The genus 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 ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Freiberg M (1982). ''Snakes of South America'' Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (''Hydrodynastes'', pp. 78-79, 99, 132-133 + photographs on pp. 5, 47, 50).

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 recognized. *'' Hydrodynastes bicinctus'' ( Herrmann, 1804) *''

Hydrodynastes gigas ''Hydrodynastes gigas'' is a New World species of large, rear-fanged, Dipsadidae snake endemic to South America. It is commonly and alternatively known as the false water cobra and the Brazilian smooth snake.Warrell DA (2004). "Snakebites in C ...

'' ( A.M.C. Duméril,

Bibron Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French zoologist and herpetologist. He was born in Paris. The son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hir ...

& A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)

Species

References

Further reading