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Chironius

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chironius
Chironius carinatus
Chironius scurrulus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Chironius
Fitzinger, 1826
Species

23, See text.

Chironius is a genus of New World colubrid snakes, commonly called sipos (from the Portuguese word cipó for liana), savanes, or sometimes vine snakes. There are 23 described species in this genus.

Species

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The following 23 species are recognized as being valid.[1]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Chironius.

Etymology

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The specific names, brazili and spixii, are in honor of Brazilian herpetologist Vital Brazil and German biologist Johann Baptist von Spix, respectively.[2]

Conservation status

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The St. Vincent Blacksnake, Chironius vincenti is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List due to its extremely limited range on the Island of St. Vincent.

References

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  1. ^ Genus Chironius at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Chironius brazili, p. 37; Chironius spixii, p. 250).

Further reading

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  • Fitzinger LI (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften. Nebst einer Verwandtschafts-tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. zoologischen Museum's zu Wien. Vienna: J.G. Heubner. five unnumbered + 67 pp. + one plate. (Chironius, new genus, p. 60). (in German and Latin).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Chironius, pp. 30, 64, 92).
  • Torres-Carvajal O, Echevarría LY, Lobos SE, Kok PJR (2018). "Phylogeny, diversity and biogeography of Neotropical sipo snakes (Serpentes: Colubrinae: Chironius)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 315–329.