Synophis

Synophis is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to northwestern South America.

Synophis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Dipsadinae
Genus:	Synophis Peracca, 1896

Description

Snakes of the genus Synophis have unusual scalation on the top of the head. The internasal scales are very small, and the prefrontal scales are fused into one large plate.[1]

Species

The genus Synophis contains the following nine species which are recognized as being valid.[2]

• Synophis bicolor Peracca, 1896
• Synophis bogerti Torres-Carvajal, Echevarría, Venegas, Chávez & Camper, 2015
• Synophis calamitus Hillis, 1990
• Synophis insulomontanus Torres-Carvajal, Echevarría, Venegas, Chávez & Camper, 2015
• Synophis lasallei (Nicéforo-María, 1950)
• Synophis niceforomariae Pyron, Arteaga, Echevarría, & Torres-Carvajal, 2016
• Synophis plectovertebralis Sheil & T. Grant, 2001
• Synophis zaheri Pyron, Guayasamin, Peñafiel, Bustamante & Arteaga, 2015
• Synophis zamora Torres-Carvajal, Echevarría, Venegas, Chávez & Camper, 2015

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

References

1. Peracca (1896).
2. Genus Synophis at The Reptile Database.

Further reading

• Peracca MG (1896). "Nuovo genere di Colubride aglifo dell'America meridionale ". Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R[egia]. Università di Torino 11 (266): 1–2. (Synophis, new genus). (in Italian).
• Pyron, R. Alexander; Arteaga, Alejandro; Echevarría, Lourdes Y.; Torres-Carvajal, Omar (2016). "A revision and key for the tribe Diaphorolepidini (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) and checklist for the genus Synophis ". Zootaxa 4171 (2): 293–320.