Chironius

Chironius is a genus of New World colubrid snakes, commonly called sipos (from the Portuguese word cipó for liana), savanes, or sometimes vine snakes. There are 22 described species in this genus with the last species being described in 2015.

Chironius
Chironius bicarinatus
Chironius scurrulus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Chironius
Fitzinger, 1826
Species

22, See text.

Species

The following 22 species are recognized as being valid.[1]

  • Chironius bicarinatus (Wied, 1820) – two-headed sipo
  • Chironius brazili Hamdan & Fernandes, 2015
  • Chironius carinatus (Linnaeus, 1758) – machete savane
  • Chironius challenger Kok, 2010
  • Chironius diamantina Fernandes & Hamdan, 2014
  • Chironius exoletus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Linnaeus' sipo
  • Chironius flavolineatus (Boettger, 1885) – Boettger's sipo
  • Chironius flavopictus (F. Werner, 1909)
  • Chironius foveatus Bailey, 1955
  • Chironius fuscus (Linnaeus, 1758) – brown sipo
  • Chironius grandisquamis (W. Peters, 1869) – Ecuador sipo
  • Chironius laevicollis (Wied, 1824) – Brazilian sipo
  • Chironius laurenti Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993
  • Chironius leucometapus Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993
  • Chironius maculoventris Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993
  • Chironius monticola Roze, 1952 – mountain sipo
  • Chironius multiventris Schmidt & Walker, 1943 – long-tailed machete savane
  • Chironius quadricarinatus (F. Boie, 1827)
  • Chironius scurrulus (Wagler, 1824) – smooth machete savane
  • Chironius septentrionalis Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993
  • Chironius spixii (Hallowell, 1845)
  • Chironius vincenti (Boulenger, 1891) – St. Vincent blacksnake

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

Etymology

The specific names, brazili and spixii, are in honor of Brazilian herpetologist Vital Brazil and German biologist Johann Baptist von Spix, respectively.[2]

Conservation status

The St. Vincent Blacksnake, Chironius vincenti is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List due to its extremely limited range on the Island of St. Vincent.

References
  1. "Chironius ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Chironius brazili, p. 37; Chironius spixii, p. 250).

Further reading
  • Fitzinger LI (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften. Nebst einer Verwandtschafts-tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. zoologischen Museum's zu Wien. Vienna: J.G. Heubner. five unnumbered + 67 pp. + one plate. (Chironius, new genus, p. 60). (in German and Latin).
  • Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Chironius, pp. 30, 64, 92).


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