Oxybelis

Oxybelis is a genus of colubrid snakes, endemic to the Americas, which are commonly known as vine snakes. Though similar in appearance to the Asian species of vine snakes of the genus Ahaetulla, they are not related, and are an example of convergent evolution.

Oxybelis
Oxybelis fulgidus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Oxybelis
Wagler, 1830
Synonyms

Coluber, Dryinus,[1] Dryophis [2]

Geographic range

Species of Oxybelis are found from the southwestern United States, through Central America, to the northern countries of South America.

Description

Body slender and laterally compressed, tail long. Head elongated and distinct from neck. Pupil of eye round.[2]

Dorsal scales smooth or weakly keeled, with apical pits, and arranged in 15 or 17 rows at midbody. Ventrals rounded at sides, subcaudals paired (divided).[2]

Maxillary teeth 20–25, subequal, except for the 3-5 most posterior, which are slightly enlarged and grooved on the outer surface. Anterior mandibular teeth strongly enlarged.[2]

Species

There are nine widely recognized species in the genus Oxybelis.[3]

  • Oxybelis aeneus (Wagler, 1824) - Mexican vine snake
  • Oxybelis brevirostris (Cope, 1861) - Cope's vine snake
  • Oxybelis fulgidus (Daudin, 1803) - green vine snake
  • Oxybelis koehleri Jadin, Blair, Orlofske, Jowers, Rivas, Vitt, Ray, Smith, & Murphy, 2020 - Köhler’s vine snake
  • Oxybelis microphthalmus Barbour & Amaral, 1926 - thrornscrub vine snake
  • Oxybelis potosiensis (Taylor, 1941) - Gulf Coast vine snake
  • Oxybelis rutherfordi Jadin, Blair, Orlofske, Jowers, Rivas, Vitt, Ray, Smith, & Murphy, 2020 - Rutherford’s vine snake
  • Oxybelis vittatus (Girard), 1854
  • Oxybelis wilsoni Villa & McCranie, 1995 - Roatan vine snake

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

Etymology

The specific name, wilsoni, is in honor of American herpetologist Larry David Wilson.[4]

References
  1. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Ithaca and London: Comstock. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Genus Oxybelis, p. 565).
  2. Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). London. xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Oxybelis, pp. 189-190, Figure 15).
  3. "Oxybelis ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Oxybelis wilsoni, pp. 287-288).

Further reading
  • Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der AMPHIBIEN mit vorangehender Classification der SÄUGTHIERE und VÖGEL. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp + 1 Plate. (Oxybelis, new genus, p. 183).


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