Xenodon

Xenodon is a genus of New World snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae of the family Colubridae.^[1]

Xenodon
Xenodon merremii
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Dipsadinae
Genus:	Xenodon H. Boie, 1826

Geographic range

Species of the genus Xenodon are found in Mexico, Central America, and South America.^[1]

Diet

Snakes in the genus Xenodon prey almost exclusively on toads.^[2]

Species

The following 12 species are recognized as being valid.^[1]

• Xenodon dorbignyi (Bibron in A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – South American hognose snake
• Xenodon guentheri Boulenger, 1894 – Günther's false fer-de-lance
• Xenodon histricus (Jan, 1863) – Jan's hognose snake
• Xenodon matogrossensis (Scrocchi & Cruz, 1993)
• Xenodon merremii (Wagler, 1824) – Wagler's snake
• Xenodon nattereri (Steindachner, 1867)
• Xenodon neuwiedii Günther, 1863 – Neuwied's false fer-de-lance
• Xenodon pulcher (Jan, 1863)
• Xenodon rabdocephalus (Wied, 1824) – false fer-de-lance
• Xenodon semicinctus (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854) – ringed hognose snake
• Xenodon severus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Amazon false fer-de-lance
• Xenodon werneri Eiselt, 1963

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

References

1. Genus Xenodon at The Reptile Database
2. Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology: Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Genus Xenodon, p. 149).

Further reading

• Boie H (1826). "Notice sur l'Erpétologie de l'île de Java ". Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie 9 (203): 233–240. (Xenodon, new genus, p. 238). (in French).
• Freiberg M (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. ISBN 0-87666-912-7. (Genus Xenodon, p. 113).