Lycodon

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Lycodon
Lycodon aulicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Lycodon
Fitzinger, 1826[1]
Species

See text.

Synonyms

Cercaspis, Coluber, Leptorhytaon, Ophites, Dryocalamus, Sphecodes, Tetragonosoma, Tytleria[2]

Lycodon subcinctus, Malayan banded wolfsnake, in Letefoho, East Timor

Lycodon is a genus of snakes, commonly known as wolf snakes,[3] in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae.The Neo-Latin name Lycodon is derived from the Greek words λύκος (lykos) meaning wolf and οδόν (odon) meaning tooth,[4] and refers to the fang-like anterior maxillary and mandibular teeth.[2] The species in the genus Lycodon are nonvenomous, but many members strongly resemble the venomous kraits (genus Bungarus) in appearance, an example of Batesian mimicry.

Fossil record

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Fossils of Lycodon are known from the Early Pliocene of Henan.[5]

Species

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The genus Lycodon comprises 73 recognized species.[6]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Lycodon.

In 2024, another species of Lycodon was discovered: Lycodon neomaculatus T.V. Nguyen et al., the Indochinese banded wolfsnake.

References

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  1. ^ Fitzinger LI (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften. Nebst einer Verwandtschafts-tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K.K. zoologischen Museums zu Wien. Vienna: J.G. Heubner, five unnumbered + 67 pp. + one plate. (Lycodon, new genus, p. 57). (in German and Latin).
  2. ^ a b Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Genus Lycodon, p. 348, Figure 23).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Mish, Frederick C. (Editor in Chief) (2004). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 40a + 1,623 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. ("lycopodium", p. 742; "odonate", p. 860).
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ Species Lycodon zawi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

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