''Lycodonomorphus'' 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
snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
s commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being
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
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, especially
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being valid.
*''
Lycodonomorphus bicolor'' — Tanganyika white-bellied water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus inornatus
''Lycodonomorphus inornatus'', commonly known as the olive house snake, the black house snake, and the olive ground snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the Family (biology), family Lamprophiidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to southe ...
'' — Olive house snake, Olive ground snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being Endemism, endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognize ...
'' — Dusky-bellied water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus leleupi'' — Congo dark-bellied water snake, Mulanje water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus mlanjensis'' — Mlanje white-bellied water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus obscuriventris'' — Floodplain water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus rufulus'' — Common brown water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus subtaeniatus
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.
Species
The following nine species are recognized as being ...
'' — Eastern Congo white-bellied water snake, Lined water snake
*''
Lycodonomorphus whytii
''Lycodonomorphus'' is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent af ...
'' — Whyte's water snake
''
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 ''Lycodonomorphus''.
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 ...
, ''whytii'', is in honor of British naturalist Alexander Whyte (1834–1908), who worked in Nyasaland (now
Malawi
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
) from 1891 to 1897.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Lycodonomorphus whytii'', p. 285).]
References
Further reading
*Auerbach RD (1987). ''The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana''. Botswana: Mokwepa Consultants. 295 pp.
*
Boulenger GA (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Taylor and Francis, printers). 448 pp.
*Boycott RC (1992). An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland, 1992; online at https://web.archive.org/web/20120914175238/http://www.sntc.org.sz/checklst/sdreptam.html.
*
Broadley DG (1967). "A review of the genus ''Lycodonomorphus'' Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae) in southeastern Africa, with a key to the genus". ''Arnoldia'' 3 (16): 1–9.
*Broadley DG, Cotterill FPD (2004). "The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot' ". ''African Journal of Herpetology'' 53 (1): 35–61.
*
Fitzinger L (1843). ''Systema Reptilium, fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae''. Vienna: Braumüller et Seidel. 106 pp. (in Latin).
*Fitzinger L (1826). ''Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museums zu Wien''. Vienna: J. G. Heubner. 66 pp. (in German and Latin).
*Haagner GV (1992). "Life History Notes - ''Lycodonomorphus rufulus'' ". ''Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa'' (41): 42.
*
Lichtenstein MHC (1823). ''Verzeichniss der Doubletten des zoologischen Museums der Königl. Universität zu Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten von Säugethieren, Vögeln, Amphibien und Fischen''. Berlin: ''Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss.''/ T. Trautwein. x + 118 pp. (in German).
*Marais J (2004). ''A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa, Second Edition''. Struik Publishers. 312 pp.
*Raw LRG (1973). "A review of the dusky-bellied water snake, ''Lycodonomorphus laevissimus'' (
Günther), with descriptions of two new subspecies". ''Annals of the Natal Museum'' 21 (3): 713–718. (''Lycodonomorphus laevissimus fitzsimonsi nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus laevissimus nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus natalensis nov. subsp''.)
External links
Scale counts of ''Lycodonomorphus'' members. *"''Lycodonomorphus'' ". NCBI Taxonomy Browser
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2185347
Lamprophiidae
Reptiles of Uganda
Reptiles of Tanzania
Snake genera
Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein