Stegonotus (snake) explained

Stegonotus is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae.^[1] Species of the genus Stegonotus are native to Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea.

Species

The genus Stegonotus contains 24 species which are recognized as being valid.^{[1] [2]}

• Stegonotus admiraltiensis – Admiralty Islands ground snake
• Stegonotus aplini – Purari White ground snake
• Stegonotus aruensis – Aru Islands ground snake
• Stegonotus australis – Australian ground snake
• Stegonotus ayamaru – Ayamaru ground snake
• Stegonotus batjanensis – Bacan Island groundsnake, Batjan frog-eating snake
• Stegonotus borneensis – Borneo ground snake, Borneo frog-eating snake
• Stegonotus caligocephalus – Dark-headed Sabah ground snake
• Stegonotus cucullatus – Bird's Head Peninsula ground snake, slatey-grey snake
• Stegonotus derooijae – De Rooij's ground snake, Raja Ampat ground snake
• Stegonotus diehli – Diehl's little ground snake
• Stegonotus florensis – Flores ground snake
• Stegonotus guentheri – D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago ground snake, Milne Bay ground snake
• Stegonotus heterurus – Bismarck ground snake
• Stegonotus iridis – Iridescent ground snake, Rainbow ground ₪snake
• Stegonotus keyensis – Kei Islands ground snake
• Stegonotus lividus – Semau Island ground snake
• Stegonotus melanolabiatus – Black-lipped ground snake
• Stegonotus modestus – Moluccan ground snake, Maluku ground snake, northern frog-eating snake
• Stegonotus muelleri – Philippine ground snake
• Stegonotus nancuro – Timor ground snake
• Stegonotus parvus – Biak Island ground snake, common ground snake
• Stegonotus poechi – Pöch's ground snake
• Stegonotus reticulatus – Reticulated ground snake
• Stegonotus sutteri – Sumba ground snake

Nota bene

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

Etymology

The specific name, aplini, is in honor of Australian herpetologist and mammalogist Kenneth Peter "Ken" Aplin.^[3]

The specific name, derooijae, is in honor of Dutch herpetologist Nelly de Rooij.^[4]

The specific name, diehli, is in honor of German missionary Wilhelm Diehl (1874–1940), who collected herpetological specimens in New Guinea.^[5]

The specific name, guentheri, is in honor of German-born British herpetologist Albert Günther.^[5]

The specific name, muelleri, is in honor of German herpetologist Johannes Peter Müller.^[6]

The specific name, poechi, is in honor of Austrian ethnologist & anthropologist Rudolf Pöch.^[7]

The specific name, sutteri, is in honor of Swiss ornithologist Ernst Sutter.^[8]

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. (Genus Stegonotus, pp. 364–365).
• Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G, Duméril A[-H-A] (1854). Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Première partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents non venimeux. [=General Herpetology or the Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 7. First Part. Containing the Natural History of the Nonvenomous Snakes]. Paris: Roret. xvi + 780 pp. (Stegonotus, new genus, pp. 680–682; S. muelleri, new species, pp. 682–683). (in French).
• Ruane S, Richards SJ, McVay JD, Tjaturadi B, Krey K, Austin CC (2017). "Cryptic and non-cryptic diversity in New Guinea ground snakes of the genus Stegonotus Duméril, Bibron and Duméril, 1854: a description of four new species (Squamata: Colubridae)". Journal of Natural History 30: 1-28.

Notes and References

1. . www.reptile-database.org.
2. O’Shea. Mark. Mark O'Shea (herpetologist). Richards. Stephen J.. species:Stephen John Richards. 2021-02-04. A striking new species of Papuan groundsnake (Stegonotus : Colubridae) from southern Papua New Guinea, with a dichotomous key to the genus in New Guinea. Zootaxa. en. 4926. 1. 26–42. 10.11646/zootaxa.4926.1.2. 33756757 . 1175-5334. 2436/623920. 232340028 . free.
3. www.reptile-database.org.
4. www.reptile-database.org.
5. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
6. [Duméril A-M-C]
7. www.reptile-database.org.
8. www.reptile-database.org.