Phrynonax

Phrynonax is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to the New World

Phrynonax
Phrynonax poecilonotus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Colubrinae
Genus:	Phrynonax Cope, 1862
Synonyms
Ahaetulla, Chironius, Herpetodryas, Natrix, Pseustes, Spilotes, Synchalinus, Tropidodipsas

Geographic range

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

Species

Three species are recognized as being valid.^[1]

• Phrynonax poecilonotus (Günther, 1858) - puffing snake
• Phrynonax sexcarinatus (Wagler, 1824) - northeastern puffing snake
• Phrynonax shropshirei Barbour & Amaral, 1924 - Shropshire's puffing snake

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

Etymology

The specific name, shropshirei, is in honor of James B. Shropshire, "Chief Sanitary Inspector, U.S. Army, Canal Zone", who collected the paratype.^[2][3]

References

1. Genus Phrynonax at The Reptile Database.
2. Barbour T, Amaral A (1924). "Notes on some Central American snakes". Occ. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 5: 129-132. (Phrynonax shropshirei, new species, p. 131).
3. 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. (Pseustes shropshirei, p. 243).

Further reading

• Cope ED (1862). "Catalogues of the REPTILES obtained during the Exploration of the Parana, Paraquay, Vermejo and Uruguay [sic] Rivers, by Capt. Thos. J. Page, U. S. N.; and of those procured by Lieut. N. Michler, U. S. Top. Eng., Commander of the Expedition conducting the Survey of the Atrato River ". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 14: 346-359 + errata and addenda on p. 594. (Phrynonax, new genus, p. 348).