Gongylophis

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Gongylophis
Rough-scaled sand boa, G. conicus
Rough-scaled sand boa, G. conicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Subfamily: Erycinae
Genus: Gongylophis
Wagler, 1830
Synonyms
  • Gongylophis - Wagler, 1830
  • Neogongylophis - Tokar, 1989[1]
Common names: sand boas.

Gongylophis is a genus of non-venomous boas found in mostly in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Currently, 3 species are recognized.[2]

Contents

[edit] Geographic range

Found in Africa from Mauritania and Senegal east to Egypt and south to Tanzania. Also reported from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. In the Indian subcontinent the genus is found from eastern Pakistan, eastern India and Bangladesh southwards as far as northwestern Sri Lanka.[1]

[edit] Species

Species[2] Authority[2] Common name Geographic range[1]
G. colubrinus (Linnaeus, 1758) Egyptian sand boa Northern Africa from Egypt as far west as Niger (Aïr), including Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, and northern Tanzania. A single specimen has been reported from Yemen.
G. conicusT (Schneider, 1801) Rough-scaled sand boa Eastern Pakistan, India south of approx. 30° N, as well as the northern arid region of Sri Lanka.
G. muelleri Boulenger, 1892 Saharan sand boa Africa along the southern edge of the Sahara, from Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone, eastwards through Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Chad to eastern Sudan.

T) Type species.[1]

[edit] Taxonomy

Boulenger (1890) used the generic name Gongylophis for the Indian species, conicus, and Eryx for the other African and Asian species.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Gongylophis (TSN 634410). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 23 November 2007.

[edit] External links

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