''Xylophis'' is a small

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 ...

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 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 ...

Pareidae Pareidae is a small family of snakes found largely in southeast Asia, with an isolated subfamily endemic to southwestern India. It encompasses 42 species in four genera divided into two subfamilies: Pareinae and Xylophiinae. Both families are tho ...

. The genus contains five species, all of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Western Ghats in southern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. All five species are non-venomous. They constitute the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

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 ...

Xylophiinae. They are the only pareid snakes found in India and the only snakes in the family found outside

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 ...

Species

The following five species are recognized as being valid: *'' Xylophis captaini'' — Captain's wood snake, Captain's xylophis *'' Xylophis deepaki'' Narayanan, Mohapatra, Balan, Das, & Gower, 2021 — Deepak's wood snake *'' Xylophis mosaicus'' — Anamalai wood snake *''

Xylophis perroteti ''Xylophis perroteti'', commonly known as Perrotet's mountain snake and the striped narrow-headed snake, is a species of snake in the family Pareidae. The species, which has no lethal potential as it has a non-venomous bite, is endemic to the ...

'' — Perrotet's mountain snake, striped narrow-headed snake *'' Xylophis stenorhynchus'' — Günther's mountain snake

Species

References

Further reading