''Aipysurus'' 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 n ...

venomous snake Venomous snakes are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow or ...

s in the subfamily

Hydrophiinae Hydrophiinae is a subfamily of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. It contains most sea snakes and many genera of venomous land snakes found in Australasia, such as the taipans (''Oxyuranus''), tiger snakes (''Notechis''), brown snakes (''Ps ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydoce ...

. Member

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of the genus are found in warm seas from the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Taxonomy

The first description of the genus ''Aipysurus'' was published by

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

in 1804, accommodating his description of a new species found in Australian seas, ''

Aipysurus laevis ''Aipysurus laevis'' is a species of venomous sea snake found in the Indo-Pacific. Its common names include golden sea snake, olive sea snake, and olive-brown sea snake. The olive sea snake swims using a paddle-like tail. It has brownish and pur ...

'', the type species of the genus. The description was accompanied by an illustration of the new species. The genus is one of a small group of the viviparous sea snakes (

: Hydrophiini) with '' Emydocephalus'', also mostly restricted to the seas between Timor,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and northern Australia. The following is a list of species. '' Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Aipysurus''. A subspecies nominated in 1974 as ''A. laevis pooleorum'' was elevated in 1983 to full species status, as ''A. pooleorum'', without explanation by the authors. The same revision (Wells and Wellington, 1983) also resurrected the species name ''

Aipysurus jukesii ''Aipysurus laevis'' is a species of venomous sea snake found in the Indo-Pacific. Its common names include golden sea snake, olive sea snake, and olive-brown sea snake. The olive sea snake swims using a paddle-like tail. It has brownish and pu ...

'' (Gray, 1846), recognised as a synonym of Lacépède's ''

''.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q129262 Snake genera Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède

Taxonomy

Notes

References

Further reading

External links