''Plagiopholis'' 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 ...

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Colubridae 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. C ...

. The genus is native to

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

General Facts

The

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), ...

of the genus ''Plagiopholis'' are found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. The snakes of this genus are mountainous species that can be found in grasses and bushes. They feed primarily on earthworms, frogs, and arthropods ( Zhao 2006). All species are oviparous, meaning they use internal fertilization to lay eggs. www.reptile-database.org. The genus ''Plagiopholis'' can be distinguished from the other

in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Pseudoxenodontinae Pseudoxenodontinae is a small subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Pseudoxenodontidae). They are found in southern and southeastern Asia, from northeast India to southern China (including Taiwan) and south into Indon ...

(''

Pseudoxenodon ''Pseudoxenodon'' is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Pseudoxenodontinae of the family Colubridae.. Species in the genus ''Pseudoxenodon'' are native to Southeast Asia. Species The following six species are recognized as being valid. * '' Pseu ...

'') by their lower midbody scale count, entire anal plate, and smaller size (

O'Shea O'Shea is a surname and, less often, a given name. It is an anglicized form of the Irish patronymic name Ó Séaghdha or Ó Sé, originating in the Kingdom of Corcu Duibne in County Kerry. Historian C. Thomas Cairney states that the O'Sheas were ...

2018).

List of species

* ''

Plagiopholis blakewayi ''Plagiopholis blakewayi'', commonly known as Blakeway's mountain snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Myanmar, Thailand, and China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a c ...

'' – Blakeway's mountain snake * ''

Plagiopholis delacouri ''Plagiopholis delacouri'' is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Laos and Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia ...

'' * ''

Plagiopholis nuchalis ''Plagiopholis nuchalis'', commonly known as the Assam mountain snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Asia. Geographic range ''P. nuchalis'' is found in China (Yunnan), Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. It ...

'' – Assam mountain snake * ''

Plagiopholis styani ''Plagiopholis styani'', also known by the common name Chinese mountain snake, is a species of colubrid snake. Its Type locality (biology), type locality is Kuatun (Guadun in modern spelling: ) in Wuyishan, Fujian, Wuyishan, Fujian. It is found in ...

'' – Chinese mountain 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 ''Plagiopholis''.

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 ...

, ''blakewayi'', is in honor of a Lieutenant Blakeway who resigned from the British army and collected reptiles in what is now

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Plagiopholis blakewayi'', p. 26; ''P. delacouri'', p. 68). The specific name, ''delacouri'', is in honor of French-born American ornithologist

Jean Théodore Delacour Jean Théodore Delacour (26 September 1890 – 5 November 1985) was a French ornithologist and aviculturist. He later became American. He was renowned for not only discovering but also rearing some of the rarest birds in the world. He establishe ...

Original publication

* Boulenger GA (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (''Plagiopholis'', new genus, p. 301)

.

General Facts

List of species

Etymology

Original publication

References

Further reading