Anilius
| Anilius | |
|---|---|
| File:Anilius scytale.jpg | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| 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 | |
| File:Anilius scytale Map.jpg | |
| Synonyms | |
|
List
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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
[edit | edit source]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 fossorial and is rarely seen.[5] It is reported to be ovoviviparous and feeds on beetles, caecilians (burrowing legless amphibians), amphisbaenids or worm lizards (legless lizards), small fossorial snakes, fish (particularly swamp eels), and frogs.[6] It forages for food on the ground, and sometimes in the water, at night.[7] 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.[8]
Geographic range
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]| Subspecies[4] | Taxon author[4] | Common name | Geographic range |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. s. phelpsorum | Roze, 1958 | ||
| A. s. scytale | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
Taxonomy
[edit | edit source]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.[9][10]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (series). Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (volume).
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- ^ Evolution – snake
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Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Boos HEA. 2001. The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- 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 Archived 2013-10-09 at the Wayback Machine.
External links
[edit | edit source]
Data related to Anilius at Wikispecies- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- Aniliidae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 3 November 2008.
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