Coelognathus

Coelognathus
	Montane trinket snake (C. helena monticollaris)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Coelognathus; Fitzinger, 1843

Coelognathus is a genus of seven rat snakes from South and Southeast Asia that were formerly assigned to the genus Elaphe. Based on morphological evidence and protein similarities, in 2001, Helfenberger revalidated the name Coelognathus that had originally been proposed by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843.^[1] The distinction between Coelognathus and Elaphe was further supported by mitochondrial DNA sequence and additional morphological evidence in 2005.^[2]

Species

These species are recognized:^[3]

Coelognathus enganensis (Vinciguerra, 1892)
Coelognathus erythrurus (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – Philippine rat snake
Coelognathus flavolineatus (Schlegel, 1837) – yellow-striped rat snake
Coelognathus helena (Daudin, 1803) – trinket snake
Coelognathus philippinus (Griffin, 1909) – reddish rat snake
Coelognathus radiatus (F. Boie, 1827) – copperhead rat snake
Coelognathus subradiatus (Schlegel, 1837) - Indonesian rat snake

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

References

^ Helfenberger N. (2001). "Phylogenetic relationships of Old World ratsnakes based on visceral organ topography, osteology, and allozyme variation". Russian Journal of Herpetology. 8: 1–62.
^ Utiger U, Schätti B, Helfenberger N (2005). "The Oriental colubrine genus Coelognathus Fitzinger, 1843, and classification of Old and New World racers and ratsnakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae, Colubrinae)" (PDF). Russian Journal of Herpetology. 12 (1): 32–53.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Coelognathus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Species

References

Further reading