''Oxyrhopus'', the false coral snakes, 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 ...

colubrid 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 ev ...

snake 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 j ...

s that belong to 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 ...

. The genus is found in

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 the northern part of

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 ...

, and it includes 15 distinct

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 ...

Species

The following 15 species are recognized as being valid."''Oxyrhopus'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. *'' Oxyrhopus clathratus'' A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 - Duméril's false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus doliatus'' A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 - Bibron's false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus emberti'' Gonzales, Reichle & Entiauspe-Neto, 2020 *'' Oxyrhopus erdisii'' *'' Oxyrhopus fitzingeri'' ( Tschudi, 1845) - Fitzinger's false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus formosus'' (

Wied-Neuwied Wied-Neuwied was a German statelet in northeastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located northeast of the Rhine River flanking the northern side of the city of Neuwied. Wied-Neuwied emerged from the partitioning of Wied. Its status was elevated ...

, 1820) - Formosa false coral snake, beautiful calico snake *'' Oxyrhopus guibei'' Hoge & Romano, 1977 *'' Oxyrhopus leucomelas'' ( F. Werner, 1916) - Werner's false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus marcapatae'' ( Boulenger, 1902) - Boulenger's false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus melanogenys'' (Tschudi, 1845) - Tschudi's false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus occipitalis'' (

, 1824) *''

Oxyrhopus petola ''Oxyrhopus petolarius'', Common name, commonly known as the forest flame snake, is a species of snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The species is Endemism, endemic to South America. There are three recognized subspecies. Taxonomy ...

rius'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) - forest flame snake *'' Oxyrhopus rhombifer'' A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 - Amazon false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus trigeminus'' A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 - Brazilian false coral snake *'' Oxyrhopus vanidicus''

Lynch Lynch may refer to: Places Australia * Lynch Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Lynch Point, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Lynch's Crater, Queensland, Australia England * River Lynch, Hertfordshire * The Lynch, an island in the River ...

, 2009 Lynch JD (2009)
"Snakes of the genus ''Oxyrhopus'' (Colubridae: Squamata) in Colombia: taxonomy and geographic variation".
''Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo'' 49 (25): 319-337. (''Oxyrhopus vanidicus'', new species). The former '' Oxyrhopus venezuelanus'' Shreve, 1947 is currently considered a synonym of ''Oxyrhopus doliatus''. ''

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 ...

'': In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Oxyrhopus''.

Description

Species in the genus ''Oxyrhopus'' share the following characters: Head distinct from neck. Eye moderate or small. Pupil vertically elliptic. Body cylindrical or slightly laterally compressed. Tail moderate or long.

Dorsal scales In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down t ...

smooth, with apical pits, and arranged in 19 rows at midbody. Maxillary teeth 10-15, subequal, followed after a gap by two enlarged grooved teeth, located just behind the posterior border of the eye.

Species

Description

References

Further reading