''Compsophis'' 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 harmless snakes 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 ...
Pseudoxyrhophiidae
The Pseudoxyrhophiidae is a family of elapoid snakes, found mostly in Madagascar. They were formerly placed as a subfamily of the Lamprophiidae, but have been more recently identified as a distinct family.
It contains about 22 genera
Genus ...
. The genus is found only on the island of
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
.
Species
Seven
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), ...
are recognized as being valid.
*''
Compsophis albiventris''
*''
Compsophis boulengeri''
*''
Compsophis fatsibe''
*''
Compsophis infralineatus''
*''
Compsophis laphystius''
*''
Compsophis vinckei''
*''
Compsophis zeny''
''
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 ''Compsophis''.
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 ...
, ''boulengeri'', is in honor of Belgian-born British herpetologist
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...
.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Compsophis boulengeri'', p. 34).]
References
External links
*
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 ''Compsophis'', pp. 609–610; species ''C. albiventris'', p. 610).
*
Glaw F,
Nagy ZT,
Vences M (2007). "Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the Malagasy pseudoxyrhophiine snake genera ''Geodipsas'' and ''Compsophis'' based on morphological and molecular data". ''Zootaxa'' 1517: 53–62.
*
Mocquard F (1894). "''Reptiles nouveaux ou insuffisamment connus de Madagascar'' ". ''Compte-rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Société philomathique de Paris, Huitième Série''
ighth Series6 (17): 3–10. (''Compsophis'', new genus, p. 8; ''C. albiventris'', new species, pp. 8–9). (in French).
Pseudoxyrhophiidae
Reptiles of Madagascar
Endemic fauna of Madagascar
Snake genera
Taxa named by François Mocquard
{{Colubrids-stub