''Pseudalsophis'' 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

. The genus is

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 ...

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 ...

. Out of the ten species, nine are endemic to the Galapagos Islands.

Geographic range

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), ...

in the genus ''Pseudalsophis'' are found in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

(particularly the Galápagos),

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Species

Ten species are recognized as being valid. *'' Pseudalsophis biserialis'' – Galápagos racer *'' Pseudalsophis darwini'' () – Darwin's racerZaher, Hassam; Yánez-Muños, Mario H.; Rodrigues, Miguel T.; Graboski, Roberta; Machado, Fabio A., Bonatto, Sandro L.; Grazziotin, Felipe G. (2018) – Darwin's racer "Origin and hidden diversity within the poorly known Galápagos radiation (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)". ''Systematics and Biodiversity''. Published online. (''Pseudalsophis darwini'', new species; ''P. hephaestus'', n. sp.; ''P. thomasi'', n. sp.). *'' Pseudalsophis dorsalis'' – Central Galapagos racer *'' Pseudalsophis elegans'' *'' Pseudalsophis hephaestus'' () – Santiago racer *'' Pseudalsophis hoodensis'' – Espanola racer *'' Pseudalsophis occidentalis'' – Western Galapagos racer *''

Pseudalsophis slevini ''Pseudalsophis slevini '', the Banded Galapagos snake or Pinzon racer, is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. It is named for Joseph Slevin, a curator at the California Academy of Sciences. Geographic range The snake is endemic to Pin ...

'' – Banded Galápagos snake *'' Pseudalsophis steindachneri'' – Striped Galápagos snake *''

Pseudalsophis thomasi ''Pseudalsophis thomasi'', or Thomas' racer, a species of snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. It is Endemism, endemic to several islands in the Galápagos Islands, Galápagos group. Etymology The genus name ''Pseudalsophis'' com ...

'' () – Thomas's racer ''

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 ''Pseudalsophis''.

Etymology

The specific names, ''slevini'' and ''steidachneri'', are in honor of American herpetologist

Joseph Richard Slevin Joseph Richard Slevin (September 13, 1881 – February 17, 1957) was an American herpetologist and the second curator of herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, with which he was affiliated for over 50 years. He collected reptile and a ...

and Austrian herpetologist

Franz Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner des ...

, respectively.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Antillophis slevini'', p. 245; ''Antillophis steindachneri'', p. 252).

Geographic range

Species

Etymology

References

Further reading