''Dromicodryas'' 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 ...
of
pseudoxyrophiid snake
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
s found only on the island of
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. They are harmless to humans.
Species
Two
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 ...
are currently recognized.
*''
Dromicodryas bernieri'' – Bernier's striped snake
*''
Dromicodryas quadrilineatus'' – four-striped snake
''
Nota bene
(, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well".
It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature
and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atte ...
'': A
binomial authority
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Dromicodryas''.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''bernieri'', is in honor of French naval surgeon
Alphonse Charles Joseph Bernier (1802–1858), who collected natural history specimens in Madagascar.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Dromicodryas bernieri'', p. 24).]
References
Further reading
*
Boulenger G (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (''Dromicodryas'', new genus, p. 189; species ''D. bernieri'', pp. 189–190; species ''D. quadrilineatus'', pp. 190–191).
External links
*
Pseudoxyrhophiidae
Biota of Madagascar
Reptiles of Madagascar
Snake genera
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
{{Madagascar-stub