''Plagiopholis'' 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 ...

snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joi ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Colubridae 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 ...

. The genus is native to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

General Facts

The

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 ...

of the genus ''Plagiopholis'' are found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The snakes of this genus are mountainous species that can be found in grasses and bushes. They feed primarily on earthworms, frogs, and arthropods ( Zhao 2006). All species are oviparous, meaning they use internal fertilization to lay eggs. www.reptile-database.org. ''Plagiopholis'' species can be distinguished from other

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Pseudoxenodontinae Pseudoxenodontinae is a small subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Pseudoxenodontidae). They are found in southern and southeastern Asia, from northeast India to southern China (including Taiwan) and south into Indon ...

by their lower midbody scale count, entire anal plate, and smaller size (

O'Shea O'Shea is a surname and, less often, a given name. It is an anglicized form of the Irish patronymic name Ó Séaghdha or Ó Sé, originating in the Kingdom of Corcu Duibne in County Kerry. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Alici ...

2018).

List of species

* ''

Plagiopholis blakewayi ''Plagiopholis blakewayi'', commonly known as Blakeway's mountain snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Myanmar, Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom ...

'' – Blakeway's mountain snake * ''

Plagiopholis delacouri ''Plagiopholis delacouri'' is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Laos and Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Sout ...

'' * ''

Plagiopholis nuchalis ''Plagiopholis nuchalis'', commonly known as the Assam mountain snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Asia. Geographic range ''P. nuchalis'' is found in China (Yunnan), Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. ...

'' – Assam mountain snake * ''

Plagiopholis styani ''Plagiopholis styani'', also known by the common name Chinese mountain snake, is a species of colubrid snake. Its type locality is Kuatun (Guadun in modern spelling: ) in Wuyishan, Fujian. It is found in southern and central China, Taiwan, an ...

'' – Chinese mountain 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 ''Plagiopholis''.

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 ...

, ''blakewayi'', is in honor of a Lieutenant Blakeway who resigned from the British army and collected reptiles in what is now

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Plagiopholis blakewayi'', p. 26; ''P. delacouri'', p. 68). The specific name, ''delacouri'', is in honor of French-born American ornithologist

Jean Théodore Delacour Jean Théodore Delacour (26 September 1890 – 5 November 1985) was a French ornithologist and aviculturist. He later became American. He was renowned for not only discovering but also rearing some of the rarest birds in the world. He establish ...

Original publication

* Boulenger GA (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. (''Plagiopholis'', new genus, p. 301)

.

General Facts

List of species

Etymology

Original publication

References

Further reading