''Platyceps'' is a genus of 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 ...

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 ...

endemic to Eurasia.

Taxonomy

The genus was erected in 1860 by

Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the Asiatic Society, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. He set about updating the museum ...

, allying species previously described. The genus name ''Platyceps'' was inadvertently used for a fossil species in 1877, now recognised as ''Platycepsion wilkinsoni''.

Species

The following 30 species are recognized as being valid. *''Platyceps afarensis'' species:Beat Schätti, Schätti & species:Ivan Ineich, Ineich, 2004 - Afar racer *''Platyceps atayevi'' (species:Boris Sakoevich Tuniyev, Tuniyev & species:Sahat A. Shammakov, Shammakov, 1993) *''Platyceps bholanathi'' (species:Ramesh Chandra Sharma, Sharma, 1976) - Sharma's racer, Nagarjunasagar racer *''Platyceps brevis'' (George Albert Boulenger, Boulenger, 1895) - short racer *''Platyceps collaris'' (Fritz Müller (doctor), F. Müller, 1878) - red whip snake, collared dwarf racer *''Platyceps elegantissimus'' (Albert Günther, Günther, 1878) - elegant racer *''Platyceps florulentus'' (Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827) - flowered racer, Geoffroy's racer *''Coluber gracilis, Platyceps gracilis'' - graceful racer, slender racer *''Platyceps insulanus'' (Robert Mertens, Mertens, 1965) - Sarso Island racer *''Platyceps josephi'' species:Verrapan Deepak, Deepak, species:Surya Narayanan, Narayanan, species:Pratyush P. Mohapatra, Mohapatra, species:Sushil Kumar Dutta, Dutta, species:Gnanaselvan Melviselvan, Melvinselvan, species:Ashaharraza Khan, Khan, species:Kristin Mahlow, Mahlow & species:Frank Tillack, Tillack, 2021 -Joseph’s racer *''Platyceps karelini'' (Johann Friedrich von Brandt, Brandt, 1838) - spotted desert racer *''Platyceps ladacensis'' (John Anderson (zoologist), Anderson, 1871) - braid snake, Jan's cliff racer *''Platyceps largeni'' (Schätti, 2001) - Dahlak racer *''Platyceps messanai'' (Schätti & :fr:Benedetto Lanza, Lanza, 1989) - Schätti's racer *''Platyceps najadum'' (Karl Eichwald, Eichwald, 1831) - Dahl's whip snake, the slender whip snake *''Platyceps noeli'' Schätti, Tillack & species:Christoph Kucharzewski, Kucharzewski, 2014 - Brahui racer *''Platyceps plinii'' (Blasius Merrem, Merrem, 1820) *''Platyceps rhodorachis'' (Giorgio Jan, Jan, 1865) - common cliff racer, Wadi racer, desert racer, braid snake, Jan’s cliff racer *''Platyceps rogersi'' - Rogers's racer *''Platyceps saharicus'' Schätti & species:Colin John McCarthy, McCarthy, 2004 *''Platyceps schmidtleri'' (Schätti & McCarthy, 2001) *''Platyceps scortecci'' (Lanza, 1963) *''Platyceps sinai'' (Karl Patterson Schmidt, Schmidt & :fr:Hymen Marx, Marx, 1956) - Sinai racer, Sinai banded racer *''Platyceps sindhensis'' Schätti, Tillack & Kucharzewski, 2014 - Sindh racer *''Platyceps somalicus'' (Boulenger, 1896) - Ogaden racer, Audo racer *''Platyceps taylori'' (Hampton Wildman Parker, Parker, 1949) - Taylor's racer *''Platyceps thomasi'' (Parker, 1931) - Thomas's semi-banded racer *''Platyceps variabilis'' (Boulenger, 1905) - variable snake, variable racer *''Platyceps ventromaculatus'' (John Edward Gray, Gray, 1834) - Hardwicke's rat snake, glossy-bellied racer, Gray's rat snake, spotted bellied snake *''Platyceps vittacaudatus'' (Edward Blyth, Blyth, 1854) - striped-tailed racer ''Nota bene'': A Binomial nomenclature, binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Platyceps''.

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading