Xylophis Explained

Xylophis is a small genus of snakes in the family Pareidae. The genus contains five species, all of which are endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India. They constitute the monotypic subfamily Xylophiinae. They are the only pareid snakes found in India and the only snakes in the family found outside Southeast Asia.

Species

The following five species are recognized as being valid:^[1]

• Xylophis captaini — Captain's wood snake, Captain's xylophis
• Xylophis deepaki Narayanan, Mohapatra, Balan, Das, & Gower, 2021 — Deepak's wood snake
• Xylophis mosaicus — Anamalai wood snake
• Xylophis perroteti — Perrotet's mountain snake, striped narrow-headed snake
• Xylophis stenorhynchus — Günther's mountain snake

Further reading

• Beddome RH (1878). "Description of a new genus of snakes of the family Calamaridæ, from Southern India". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1878: 156. (Xylophis, new genus).

Notes and References

1. Narayanan. Surya. Mohapatra. Pratyush P.. Balan. Amirtha. Das. Sandeep. Gower. David J.. 2021-04-15. A new species of Xylophis Beddome, 1878 (Serpentes: Pareidae) from the southern Western Ghats of India. Vertebrate Zoology. en. 71. 219–230. 10.3897/vz.71.e63986. 2625-8498. free.