Gonionotophis

Gonionotophis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Lamprophiidae
Subfamily:	Lamprophiinae
Genus:	Gonionotophis Boulenger, 1893[1]

Gonionotophis is a genus of snakes, known commonly as African ground snakes and file snakes, in the family Lamprophiidae. The genus is endemic to Central Africa.

Species

There are three recognized species in the genus:[2][3]

• Gonionotophis brussauxi (Mocquard, 1889) – Brussaux's file snake, Mocquard's African ground snake
• Gonionotophis grantii (Günther, 1863) – Grant's African ground snake, Grant's file snake, savanna lesser file snake
• Gonionotophis klingi Matschie, 1893 – Kling's file snake, Matschie's African ground snake

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

Etymology

The specific name, brussauxi, is in honour of French anthropologist Eugène Brussaux.[4]

The specific name, grantii, is in honor of British physician Robert Edmond Grant.[4]

References

1. "Gonionotophis ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de
2. Kelly CMR, Branch WR, Broadley DG, Barker NP, Villet MH (2010). "Molecular systematics of the African snake family Lamprophiidae Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes: Elapoidea), with particular focus on the genera Lamprophis Fitzinger 1843 and Mehelya Csiki 1903". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58 (3): 415-426. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.010
3. Genus Gonionotophis at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
4. 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. (Goniotophis brussauxi, p. 41; G. granti, p. 106).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Gonionotophis, new genus, p. 323).
• Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Genus Mehelya, p. 78).