Rhabdops Explained

Rhabdops is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae.^[1] The genus is endemic to the Western Ghats of India.

Species

The genus Rhabdops contains two recognized valid species:^[2]

• Rhabdops aquaticus – aquatic rhabdops, water rhabdops
• Rhabdops olivaceus – olive forest snake, olive trapezoid snake

The species R. bicolor was removed from Rhabdops in 2019, and placed in the newly erected genus Smithophis.^[3]

Nota bene

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

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. (Rhabdops, new genus, p. 300).
• Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Genus Rhabdops, pp. 327–328).

Notes and References

1. Web site: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist.. Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, Baillargeon G, Ouvrard D. 2011. Species 2000: Reading, UK.. 19 February 2016.
2. . www.reptile-database.org.
3. Deepak. V.. Captain. Ashok. Lalronunga. Samuel. Lalremsanga. H. T.. Das. Abhijit. Gower. David J.. Giri. Varad B.. 2019-05-09. A new genus and species of natricine snake from northeast India. Zootaxa. en. 4603. 2. 241–264. 10.11646/zootaxa.4603.2.2. 31717226 . 1175-5334. 10141/622621. 165049846 . free.