Gloydius

Taxobox
name = "Gloydius"

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image_caption = Japanese mamushi, "G. blomhoffii"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Viperidae
subfamilia = Crotalinae
genus = "Gloydius"
genus_authority = 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, 1983McDiarmid 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).] :"Common names: Asian moccasins.""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.ITIS|ID=634414|taxon=Gloydius|year=2006|date=17 October]

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.

pecies

"*) Not including the nominate subspecies."
^T) Type species.

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.

ee also

* List of crotaline species and subspecies
*
*
* Snakebite

References

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.

External links

*
* [http://www.kingsnake.com/toxinology/old/taxonomy.html Taxonomy comparison] by Dr. Wolfgang Wüster at [http://www.kingsnake.com/toxinology/old/ Dr. Brian Grieg Fry's Int'l Venom & Toxin Database] . Accessed 25 July 2007.