Gloydius

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Gloydius
Japanese mamushi, G. blomhoffii
Japanese mamushi, G. blomhoffii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Subfamily: Crotalinae
Genus: Gloydius
Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981
Synonyms
  • Trigonocephalus - Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1822
  • Trigonocephalus - Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1822
  • Halys - Gray, 1849
  • Ancistrodon - Boulenger, 1896
  • Gloydius - Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981
  • Gloydins - Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1983[1]
Common names: (none).

Gloydius is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Asia. Named after Howard Gloyd, this group is very similar to the North American genus Agkistrodon. Nine species are currently recognized.[2]

Contents

[edit] Geographic range

Found in Russia, east of the Ural Mountains through Siberia, Iran, Himalayas from Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.[1]

[edit] Species

Species[2] Authority[2] Subsp.*[2] Common name[3] Geographic range[1]
G. blomhoffii (H. Boie, 1826) 3 Japanese mamushi China, Korea and Japan.
G. halysT (Pallas, 1776) 4 Siberian pitviper Russia, east of the Ural Mountains through Siberia, Iran, Mongolia to northern and central China, as well as the southern Ryukyu Islands.
G. himalayanus (Günther, 1864) 0 Himalayan pitviper Along the southern slopes of the Himalayas from northeastern Pakistan, to northern India (Kashmir, Punjab) and Nepal. Found at 1524-3048 m altitude.
G. intermedius (Strauch, 1868) 2 Central Asian pitviper Southeastern Azerbaijan, northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, northwestern Afghanistan, southern Russia, northwestern China and Mongolia.
G. monticola (Werner, 1922) 0 Likiang pitviper The mountains of northern Yunnan in China.
G. saxatilis (Emelianov, 1937) 0 Rock mamushi[4] Russia (eastern Siberia), northeastern China and North and South Korea.
G. shedaoensis (Zhao, 1979) 0 Shedao island pitviper Shedao Island, off the coast of Liaotung, China.
G. strauchi (Bedriaga, 1912) 0 Strauch's pitviper The Tibetan Plateau in the provinces of Tsinghai and western Szechwan, China.
G. ussuriensis (Emelianov, 1929) 0 Ussuri mamushi Far east Russia (Primorskiy Kray), northeastern China, North and South Korea, as well as Quelpart Island.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies (typical form).
T) Type species.

[edit] Taxonomy

Due to the strong morphological similarity, these snakes were classified in Agkistrodon until very recently. However, as of 1999 cladistic studies clearly show that Agkistrodon did not form a clade (indeed, it was not even paraphyletic), and has thus been split into several genera.

A new species, G. tsushimaensis, was described by Isogawa, Moriya & Mitsui (1994). It is referred to as the Tsushima island pitviper and is found only on Tsushima Island, Japan.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. ^ a b c d Gloydius (TSN 634414). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 17 October 2006.
  3. ^ Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S. 2004. Asian Pitvipers. GeitjeBooks Berlin. 1st Edition. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
  4. ^ Gloyd HK, Conant R. 1990. Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex: A Monographic Review. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 614 pp. 52 plates. LCCN 89-50342. ISBN 0-916984-20-6.

[edit] Further reading

  • Isogawa K, Moriya A, Mitsui S. 1994. A new snake from the genus Agkistrodon (Serpentes: Viperidae) from Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture. Jap. J. Herpetol. 15:101-111.

[edit] External links