| Gloydius | |
|---|---|
| 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 | |
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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 |
Found in Russia, east of the Ural Mountains through Siberia, Iran, Himalayas from Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.[1]
| Species[2] | Taxon author[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. tsushimaensis | (Isogawa, Moriya & Mitsui, 1994) | 0 | Tsushima Island pitviper | Tsushima Island, Japan. |
| 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.
T) Type species.
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.