Gonionotophis

Gonionotophis is a genus of snakes, known commonly as African ground snakes and file snakes, in the family Lamprophiidae. The genus is endemic to Central Africa.

Gonionotophis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Lamprophiidae
Subfamily:	Lamprophiinae
Genus:	Gonionotophis Boulenger, 1893[1]

Species

There are three recognized species in the genus:[2][3]

• Gonionotophis brussauxi (Mocquard, 1889) – Brussaux's file snake, Mocquard's African ground snake
• Gonionotophis grantii (Günther, 1863) – Grant's African ground snake, Grant's file snake, savanna lesser file snake
• Gonionotophis klingi Matschie, 1893 – Kling's file snake, Matschie's African ground snake

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Gonionotophis.

Etymology

The specific name, brussauxi, is in honour of French anthropologist Eugène Brussaux.[4]

The specific name, grantii, is in honor of British physician Robert Edmond Grant.[4]

References

1. "Gonionotophis ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de
2. Kelly CMR et al. (2010). "Molecular systematics of the African snake family Lamprophiidae Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes: Elapoidea), with particular focus on the genera Lamprophis Fitzinger 1843 and Mehelya Csiki 1903". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58 (3): 415-426.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.010
3. Genus Gonionotophis at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Goniotophis brussauxi, p. 41; G. granti, p. 106; G. laurenti, p. 152).

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. (Gonionotophis, new genus, p. 323).
• Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Genus Mehelya, p. 78).