''Lycodonomorphus'' 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
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 referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being
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 ...
, especially
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being valid.
*''
Lycodonomorphus bicolor
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Tanganyika white-bellied water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus inornatus
''Lycodonomorphus inornatus'', commonly known as the olive house snake, the black house snake, and the olive ground snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Lamprophiidae. The species is endemic to southern Africa. It is a nocturnal ...
'' — Olive house snake, Olive ground snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Dusky-bellied water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus leleupi'' — Congo dark-bellied water snake, Mulanje water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus mlanjensis
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Mlanje white-bellied water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus obscuriventris
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Floodplain water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus rufulus
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Common brown water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus subtaeniatus
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Eastern Congo white-bellied water snake, Lined water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus whytii
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Whyte's water 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 ''Lycodonomorphus''.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''whytii'', is in honor of British naturalist Alexander Whyte (1834–1908), who worked in Nyasaland (now
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
) from 1891 to 1897.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Lycodonomorphus whytii'', p. 285).]
References
External links
Scale counts of ''Lycodonomorphus'' members. *"''Lycodonomorphus'' ". NCBI Taxonomy Browser
Further reading
*Auerbach RD (1987). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana''. Botswana: Mokwepa Consultants. 295 pp.
*
George Albert Boulenger, Boulenger GA (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Taylor and Francis, printers). 448 pp.
*Boycott RC (1992). An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland, 1992; online at https://web.archive.org/web/20120914175238/http://www.sntc.org.sz/checklst/sdreptam.html.
*
Broadley DG (1967). "A review of the genus ''Lycodonomorphus'' Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae) in southeastern Africa, with a key to the genus". ''Arnoldia'' 3 (16): 1-9.
*Broadley DG, Cotterill FPD (2004). "The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot' ". ''African Journal of Herpetology'' 53 (1): 35-61.
*
Fitzinger L (1843). ''Systema Reptilium, fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae''. Vienna: Braumüller et Seidel. 106 pp. (in Latin).
*Fitzinger L (1826). ''Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museums zu Wien''. Vienna: J. G. Heubner. 66 pp. (in German and Latin).
*Haagner GV (1992). "Life History Notes - ''Lycodonomorphus rufulus'' ". ''Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa'' (41): 42.
*
Lichtenstein MHC (1823). ''Verzeichniss der Doubletten des zoologischen Museums der Königl. Universität zu Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten von Säugethieren, Vögeln, Amphibien und Fischen''. Berlin: ''Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss.''/ T. Trautwein. x + 118 pp. (in German).
*Marais J (2004). ''A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa, Second Edition''. Struik Publishers. 312 pp.
*Raw LRG (1973). "A review of the dusky-bellied water snake, ''Lycodonomorphus laevissimus'' (
Günther), with descriptions of two new subspecies". ''Annals of the Natal Museum'' 21 (3): 713-718. (''Lycodonomorphus laevissimus fitzsimonsi nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus laevissimus nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus natalensis nov. subsp''.)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2185347
Lamprophiidae
Reptiles of Uganda
Reptiles of Tanzania
Snake genera
Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein