''Lycodon'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

colubrid Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. Colu ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s, commonly known as wolf snakes. The

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

name ''Lycodon'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words λύκος (''lykos'') meaning wolf and οδόν (''odon'') meaning tooth, and refers to the fang-like anterior

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

ry and

mandibular In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

teeth. They are nonvenomous, but many members of this genus strongly resemble the venomous kraits in appearance, an example of Emsleyan mimicry.

Fossil record

Fossils of ''Lycodon'' are known from the

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Species

The genus ''Lycodon'' comprises 73 recognized

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. *''

Lycodon albofuscus The dark wolf snake (''Lycodon albofuscus'') is a species of snake in the family colubridae. It is found in Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million ...

'' – dark wolf snake *''

Lycodon alcalai ''Lycodon alcalai'', also known commonly as Alcala's wolf snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Philippines. Etymology The specific name ''alcalai'' was chosen to honor the Philippine naturalist ...

'' – Alcala's wolf snake *''

Lycodon anakradaya ''Lycodon anakradaya'' is a species of snake found in Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100& ...

'' *'' Lycodon anamallensis'' – Colombo wolf snake *''

Lycodon aulicus ''Lycodon aulicus'', commonly known as the Indian wolf snake or common wolf snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Early naturalists have suggested its resemblance to the venomous Common Krait, common kr ...

'' – Indian wolf snake, common wolf snake *'' Lycodon banksi'' Luu et al., 2018 – Banks's wolf snake *'' Lycodon bibonius'' – Ota's wolf snake *'' Lycodon bicolor'' – Mackinnon's wolf snake *'' Lycodon butleri'' – Butler's wolf snake *'' Lycodon capucinus'' – common wolf snake *'' Lycodon cardamomensis'' *'' Lycodon carinatus'' – Ceylon wolf snake *'' Lycodon cathaya'' – Huaping wolf snake *''

Lycodon cavernicolus ''Lycodon cavernicolus'', also known as Gua Wang Burma wolf snake, is a species of colubrid snake found in peninsular Malaysia. It was first described in 2014. Etymology The species name ''cavernicolus'' is derived from the Latin words ''caver ...

'' – Gua Wang Burma wolf snake *'' Lycodon chapaensis'' (

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& Bourret, 1933) – Namdong wolf snake *''

Lycodon chithrasekarai ''Lycodon chithrasekarai'', also known commonly as the Chithrasekara's bridal snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lank ...

'' Wickramasinghe et al., 2020 – Chithrasekara's bridle snake *'' Lycodon chrysoprateros'' – Ross's wolf snake *'' Lycodon davidi'' – David's wolf snake *'' Lycodon davisonii'' – Blanford's bridal snake *'' Lycodon deccanensis'' *'' Lycodon dumerili'' – Duméril's wolf snake *'' Lycodon effraenis'' – brown wolf snake *'' Lycodon fasciatus'' *''

Lycodon fasciolatus The banded wolf snake, (''Lycodon fasciolatus'') is a species of colubrid snake. Sometimes called the banded racer, that name is used for snakes in the genus ''Platyceps''. Geographic range It is found in India except for North Bengal tamilnadu ...

'' – banded wolf snake *'' Lycodon fausti'' – Faust's wolf snake *'' Lycodon ferroni'' – Ferron's Asian wolf snake *'' Lycodon flavicollis'' – yellow-collared wolf snake *''

Lycodon flavomaculatus ''Lycodon flavomaculatus'', commonly called the yellow-spotted wolf snake, is a species of colubrid snake found in the Western Ghats of India. Description Dorsally ''Lycodon flavimaculatus'' is shiny black with a series of yellow vertebral spo ...

'' – yellow-spotted wolf snake *''

Lycodon flavozonatus The yellow-banded big tooth snake, yellow-spotted wolf snake, yellow large-toothed snake, or big-tooth snake, (''Lycodon flavozonatus'') is a species of snake in the family colubridae. It is found in Myanmar, Vietnam, and China China, o ...

'' – yellow-banded big tooth snake, yellow-spotted wolf snake, big-tooth snake *'' Lycodon futsingensis'' *'' Lycodon gammiei'' – Gammie's wolf snake, Sikkim false wolf snake *'' Lycodon gibsonae'' – Gibson's wolf snake *'' Lycodon gongshan'' – Gongshan wolf snake *'' Lycodon gracilis'' – scarce bridal snake *'' Lycodon hypsirhinoides'' *'' Lycodon jara'' – twin-spotted wolf snake *'' Lycodon kundui'' *'' Lycodon laoensis'' – Laotian wolf snake *'' Lycodon liuchengchaoi'' *'' Lycodon meridionalis'' *'' Lycodon muelleri'' – Müller's wolf snake *'' Lycodon multifasciatus'' *'' Lycodon multizonatus'' – Luding wolf snake, Luding Kukri snake *'' Lycodon namdongensis'' *'' Lycodon nympha'' – Vellore bridal snake *'' Lycodon obvelatus'' – recluse wolf snake *'' Lycodon ophiophagus'' – snake-eater wolf snake *'' Lycodon orientalis'' – Oriental odd-tooth snake *'' Lycodon paucifasciatus'' – Rendahl's wolf snake *'' Lycodon philippinus'' – Philippine dryocalamus *'' Lycodon pictus'' *'' Lycodon rosozonatus'' – rose big-tooth snake *''

Lycodon rufozonatus ''Lycodon rufozonatus'' is a species of snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The species is native to East Asia. It is medium-sized, Nocturnality, nocturnal, and is considered non-venomous. Two subspecies are recognised: one of which, ...

'' – red-banded snake *'' Lycodon ruhstrati'' – mountain wolf snake, Formosa wolf snake *'' Lycodon sealei'' – Seale's banded Asian wolf snake *''

Lycodon semicarinatus ''Lycodon semicarinatus'', the Loo-Choo big-tooth snake or Ryukyu odd-tooth snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. Distribution It is found in the Ryukyu islands of Japan including Okinawa and Amami Oshima. The species is not v ...

'' – Loo-Choo big-tooth snake, Ryukyu odd-tooth snake *'' Lycodon septentrionalis'' – white-banded wolf snake, northern large-toothed snake *'' Lycodon serratus'' – serrate-banded wolf snake *'' Lycodon sidiki'' *'' Lycodon solivagus'' – common wolf snake *'' Lycodon stormi'' – Sulawesi wolf snake *'' Lycodon striatus'' – northern wolf snake, barred wolf snake *'' Lycodon subannulatus'' – Malayan bridal snake, southern bridle snake *''

Lycodon subcinctus ''Lycodon subcinctus'', commonly known as the Malayan banded wolf snake, is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. This snake has banded pattern that resembles a Krait. Geographic range The snake is found in Asia. Subspecies * ''Lycodon ...

'' – Malayan banded wolf snake *'' Lycodon synaptor'' – Boehme's wolf snake *'' Lycodon tessellatus'' – Manila wolf snake *'' Lycodon tiwarii'' – Andaman wolf snake *'' Lycodon travancoricus'' – Travancore wolf snake *'' Lycodon tristrigatus'' *'' Lycodon truongi'' – Truong's wolf snake *'' Lycodon zawi'' www.reptile-database.org. – Zaw's wolf snake *'' Lycodon zayuensis'' *'' Lycodon zoosvictoriae'' – Zoos Victoria's wolf snake ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Lycodon''. In 2024, an other species of lycodon was discovered: '' lycodon neomaculatus'', the Indochinese Banded Wolfsnake.

References

Snake genera Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger Long stubs with short prose {{Colubrinae-stub