Compsophis Explained

Compsophis is a genus of harmless snakes in the family Pseudoxyrhophiidae. The genus is found only on the island of Madagascar.^[1]

Species

Seven species are recognized as being valid.

• Compsophis albiventris
• Compsophis boulengeri
• Compsophis fatsibe
• Compsophis infralineatus
• Compsophis laphystius
• Compsophis vinckei
• Compsophis zeny

Nota bene

A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Compsophis.

Etymology

The specific name, boulengeri, is in honor of Belgian-born British herpetologist George Albert Boulenger.^[2]

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Compsophis, pp. 609–610; species C. albiventris, p. 610).
• Glaw F, Nagy ZT, Vences M (2007). "Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the Malagasy pseudoxyrhophiine snake genera Geodipsas and Compsophis based on morphological and molecular data". Zootaxa 1517: 53–62.
• Mocquard F (1894). "Reptiles nouveaux ou insuffisamment connus de Madagascar ". Compte-rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Société philomathique de Paris, Huitième Série [Eighth Series] 6 (17): 3–10. (Compsophis, new genus, p. 8; C. albiventris, new species, pp. 8–9). (in French).

Notes and References

1. [Frank Glaw|Glaw F]
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Compsophis boulengeri, p. 34).