''Apostolepis'' 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 ...
of snakes in the subfamily
Dipsadinae
Dipsadinae is a large subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Dipsadidae). Species of the subfamily Dipsadinae are found in most of the Americas, including the West Indies, and are most diverse in South America. There a ...
.
[ However, the familial placement differs among sources. It has also been placed in the family ]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 ...
, 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 ...
Dipsadinae[ or Xenodontinae,][ or in the family Xenodontidae.]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 South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
.
Species
''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 parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Apostolepis''.
References
Further reading
* Boulenger GA (1896). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ....'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus ''Apostolepis'', p. 232).
* Cope ED (1862). "On ''Elapomorphus'', ''Sympholis'', and ''Coniophanes'' ". ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1861 ''13 524. (''Apostolepis'', new genus).
* Freiberg MA (1982). ''Snakes of South America''. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (Genus ''Apostolepis'', pp. 65, 69, 89).
{{Authority control
Apostolepis
Snake genera
Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope