''Xenodon'' is a

genus 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 nom ...

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

snakes in the subfamily

Dipsadinae Dipsadinae is a large subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Dipsadidae). They are found in most of the Americas, including the West Indies, and are most diverse in South America. There are more than 700 species. Dips ...

of the

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

Colubridae.

Geographic range

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 ''Xenodon'' are found in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and

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 sout ...

Diet

Snakes in the genus ''Xenodon''

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

almost exclusively on

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

s. Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). ''Introduction to Herpetology: Third Edition''. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. . (Genus ''Xenodon'', p. 149).

Species

The following 12

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. *''

Xenodon dorbignyi ''Xenodon'' is a genus of New World snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae. Geographic range Species of the genus ''Xenodon'' are found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Diet Snakes in the genus ''Xenodon'' p ...

'' *'' Xenodon guentheri'' *'' Xenodon histricus'' *'' Xenodon matogrossensis'' *'' Xenodon merremii'' *'' Xenodon nattereri'' *'' Xenodon neuwiedii'' *''

Xenodon pulcher ''Xenodon pulcher'' (common names: tricolor hognose snake or banded hognose snake) is a species of fossorial snake in the family Colubridae. It is found in southern South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western H ...

'' *'' Xenodon rabdocephalus'' *'' Xenodon semicinctus'' *'' Xenodon severus'' *'' Xenodon werneri'' ''

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 ''Xenodon''.

Geographic range

Diet

Species

References

Further reading