''Aipysurus'' 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 ...

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 ...

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 (' ...

of 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 ...

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "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 '' Emydocephalus ...

. Member

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 are found in warm seas from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

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 natural history, naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's g ...

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. Taxonomy A species was first described by Bernard Germain de Lacépède i ...

'', 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 ''Emydocephalus'' is a genus of sea snakes, also known as turtle-headed sea snakes, in the family Elapidae. The genus is one of a small group of the viviparous sea snakes (Hydrophiinae: Hydrophiini) with ''Aipysurus''. Unlike most sea snakes, t ...

'', also mostly restricted to the seas between

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and northern Australia. The following species are recognised in the genus ''Aipysurus'': ''

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 ''Aipysurus''. A

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

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. Taxonomy A species was first described by Bernard Germain de Lacépède i ...

'' (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