Symphimus Explained

Symphimus is a genus of snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus is endemic to Mexico and Central America.^[1]

Species and geographic ranges

The following two species are recognized as being valid.^[1]

• Symphimus leucostomus –Mexican white-lipped snake, southeastern Mexico (Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca)
• Symphimus mayae – Yucatán white-lipped snake, northern Belize, Guatemala, Mexico (Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatán)

Etymology

The specific name, mayae, is in honor of the Maya of the Yucatán Peninsula.^[2]

Reproduction

Snakes of the genus Symphimus are oviparous.^[1]

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum. 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 Symphimus, p. 642).
• Cope ED (1869). "Seventh Contribution to the Herpetology of Tropical America". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 11: 147–192. (Symphimus, new genus, and Symphimus leucostomus, new species, p. 150).
• Gaige H (1936). "Some Reptiles and Amphibians from Yucatan and Campeche, Mexico". Carnegie Institution of Washington Publications (457): 289–304. (Eurypholis mayae, new species, p. 300).
• Heimes, Peter (2016). Snakes of Mexico: Herpetofauna Mexicana Vol. I. Frankfurt, Germany: Chimaira. 572 pp. .

Notes and References

1. .
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Symphimus mayae, p. 172).