Biology:Anilius

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Short description: Genus of snakes

Anilius
Anilius scytale.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Infraorder: Alethinophidia
Clade: Amerophidia
Family: Aniliidae
Stejneger, 1907
Genus: Anilius
Oken, 1816
Species:
A. scytale
Binomial name
Anilius scytale
Synonyms
List
  • Ilysioidea - Fitzinger, 1826
  • Tortricina - Müller, 1823
  • Tortricidae - Jan, 1863
  • Ilysiidae - Boulenger, 1890
  • Aniliidae - Stejneger, 1907
  • Anilidae - Amaral, 1930
  • Aniliinae - Romer, 1956[1]

  • Tortrix - Oppel, 1811
  • Anilius - Oken, 1816
  • Elysia - Hemprich, 1820
  • Helison - Brazil,
  • Ilysia - Lichtenstein, 1823
  • Torquatrix - Haworth, 1825
  • Illisia - Schinz, 1883
  • Anileus - Agassiz, 1844[1]

  • [Anguis] Scytale Linnaeus, 1758
  • Anguis annulata Laurenti, 1768
  • Anguis fasciata Laurenti, 1768
  • Anguis caerulae Laurenti, 1768
  • Anguis corallina Laurenti, 1768
  • Anguis atra Laurenti, 1768
  • [Anguis] ater Gmelin, 1788
  • Anguis Corallinus
    — Schneider, 1801
  • Anguis fasciatus
    — Schneider, 1801
  • Anguis ruber
    Latreille In Sonnini & Latreille, 1801
  • Tortr[ix]. scytale — Oppel, 1811
  • Tortr[ix]. coralinus [sic]
    Oppel, 1811 (ex errore)
  • Anilius scytale — Oken, 1816
  • [Tortrix] annulata — Merrem, 1820
  • Anguis (Elysia) Scytale
    — Hemprich, 1820
  • Ilysia scytale — Lichtenstein, 1823
  • Torquatrix scytale — Gray, 1825
  • Tortrix scytale
    — A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844
  • Ilysia scytale — Boulenger, 1893
  • A[nilius]. scytale [scylate] [sic] Roze, 1958 (ex errore)
  • Anilius scytale scytale
    — J. Peters & Orejas-Miranda, 1970[1]

The Aniliidae are a monotypic family[2] created for the monotypic genus Anilius[3] that contains the single species Anilius scytale.[4] Common names include the American pipe snake and false coral snake.[2] It is found in South America. This snake possesses a vestigial pelvic girdle that is visible as a pair of cloacal spurs. It is ovoviviparous. It is non-venomous, and its diet consists mainly of amphibians and other reptiles. Two subspecies are recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.[4]

Description

Spectacled caiman and false coral snake by Maria Sibylla Merian

This species is found in the Amazon rainforest of South America, the Guianas, and Trinidad and Tobago. It is a moderate-sized snake attaining a size of about 70 cm (28 in) in length. It is reported to be ovoviviparous and feeds on beetles, caecilians (burrowing legless amphibians), amphisbaenids or worm lizards (legless lizards), small fossorial snakes, fish, and frogs. It has a cylindrical body of uniform diameter and a very short tail; it is brightly banded in red and black and its reduced eyes lie beneath large head scales. It is considered to be the snake that most resembles the original and ancestral snake condition, such as a lizard-like skull.[5]

Geographic range

It is found in the tropics of northern South America from southern and eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana south through the Amazon Basin of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil . The type locality given is "Indiis".[1]

Subspecies

Subspecies[4] Taxon author[4] Common name Geographic range
A. s. phelpsorum Roze, 1958
A. s. scytale (Linnaeus, 1758)

Taxonomy

Modern classifications restrict the family to the South American pipe snake or false coral snake (Anilius scytale), with the previously included Asian genus Cylindrophis raised to a separate family, Cylindrophiidae. Anilius is not closely related to Asian pipesnakes. Instead, its closest relatives appear to be the neotropical Tropidophiidae.[6][7]

References

Further reading

  • Boos HEA. 2001. The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN:1-58544-116-3.
  • Martins M, Oliveira ME. 1999. Natural history of snakes in forests of the Manaus region, Central Amazonia, Brazil. Herpetological Natural History 6: 78-150. PDF .

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q834371 entry