''Scaphiophis'' 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
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 ...
n snakes 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 ...
. Common names include hook-nosed snakes
and shovel-nosed snakes.
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 as being valid.
[. www.reptile-database.org.]
*''
Scaphiophis albopunctatus''
*''
Scaphiophis raffreyi''
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 ...
, ''raffreyi'', is in honor of French scientific collector
Achille Raffray
Achille Marie Jacques Raffray (17 October 1844 – 25 September 1923) was a French diplomat, traveller, zoologist and entomologist.
He wrote:
(Partial list)
- Entomology:
* (1890) Étude sur le Psélaphides. V. Tableaux synoptiques. Notes et ...
.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Scaphiophis raffreyi'', pp. 215-216).]
References
Further reading
*
Boulenger GA (1894). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ''. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. (Genus ''Scaphiophis'', p. 254).
*
Peters W (1870). "''Eine Mittheilung über neue Amphibien ( ... ''Scaphiophis'' ... ) des Königlich zoologischen Museums'' ". ''Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' 1870: 641-652 + Plates I-II. (''Scaphiophis'', new genus, p. 644; ''Scaphiophis albopunctatus'', new species, pp. 645–646 + Plate II, figures 4, 4a, 4b, 4c). (in German).
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3016353
Colubrids
Snake genera
Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters