Gloydius is a genus of venomous pitvipers endemic to Asia, also known as Asian moccasins or Asian ground pit vipers. Named after American herpetologist Howard K. Gloyd,[2] this genus is very similar to the North American genus Agkistrodon. 24 species are currently recognized.[3]
| Gloydius | |
|---|---|
| |
| Gloydius blomhoffii, Japanese mamushi | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Subfamily: | Crotalinae |
| Genus: | Gloydius Hoge & Romano-Hoge, 1981 |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Geographic range edit
Species of Gloydius are found in Russia, east of the Ural Mountains through Siberia, Iran, Himalayas from Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.[1]
Species edit
| Species[3] | Taxon author[3] | Subsp.*[3] | Common name[4] | Geographic range[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G. angusticeps | J. Shi, Yang, Huang, Orlov & P. Li, 2018 | 0 | Zoige pit viper | China, (Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu). |
| G. blomhoffii | (H. Boie, 1826) | 3 | Japanese mamushi | Japan. |
| G. brevicauda | (Stejneger, 1907) | 0 | Short-tailed mamushi | North Korea, South Korea, and China. |
| G. caraganus | (Eichwald, 1831) | 0 | Karaganda pitviper | Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. |
| G. caucasicus | (Nikolsky, 1916) | 0 | Caucasian pitviper | Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Afghanistan. |
| G. chambensis | Kuttalam, Santra, Owens, Selvan, Mukherjee, Graham, Togridou, Bharti, Shi, Shanker & Malhotra, 2022[5] | 0 | Chamba pitviper | Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh. |
| G. changdaoensis | L. Li, 1999 | 0 | China. | |
| G. cognatus | (Gloyd, 1977) | 0 | Alashan pitviper | China. |
| G. halysT | (Pallas, 1776) | 4 | Siberian pitviper | Russia, east of the Ural Mountains through Siberia, Iran, Mongolia to northern and central China, as well as the southern Ryukyu Islands. |
| G. himalayanus | (Günther, 1864) | 0 | Himalayan pitviper | Along the southern slopes of the Himalayas from northeastern Pakistan, to northern India (Kashmir, Punjab) and Nepal. Found at 1524–3048 m altitude. |
| G. huangi | K. Wang, Ren, Dong, Jiang, Shi, Siler & Che, 2019 | 0 | Lancang Plateau viper | Tibet. |
| G. intermedius | (Strauch, 1868) | 2 | Central Asian pitviper | Southeastern Azerbaijan, northern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, northwestern Afghanistan, southern Russia, northwestern China and Mongolia. |
| G. lateralis | Zhang, S. Shi, C. Li, Yan, P. Wang, Ding, Du, Plenković-Moraj, Jiang & J. Shi, 2022 | 0 | Jiuzhaigou County, China.[6] | |
| G. lipipengi | J. Shi, J-C. Liu & Malhotra, 2021 | 0 | Nujiang pit viper | China. |
| G. liupanensis | N. Liu, Z. Song & Luo, 1989 | 0 | Gansu, China. | |
| G. monticola | (F. Werner, 1922) | 0 | Likiang pitviper | The mountains of northern Yunnan in China. |
| G. qinlingensis | (M. Song & F. Chen, 1985) | 0 | Shaanxi, China. | |
| G. rickmersi | Wagner, Tiutenko, Borkin & Simonov, 2015 | Kyrgyzstan | ||
| G. rubromaculatus | J. Shi, P.Li & J. Liu, 2017 | 0 | Tibetan Plateau. | |
| G. saxatilis | (Emelianov, 1937) | 0 | Rock mamushi[7] | Russia (eastern Siberia), northeastern China and North and South Korea. |
| G. shedaoensis | (Zhao, 1979) | 0 | Shedao island pitviper | Shedao Island, off the coast of Liaotung, China. |
| G. stejnegeri | (Rendahl, 1933) | 0 | Gobi pitviper | China and Mongolia. |
| G. strauchi | (Bedriaga, 1912) | 0 | Strauch's pitviper | The Tibetan Plateau in the provinces of Tsinghai and western Szechwan, China. |
| G. swild | J. Shi & Malhotra, 2021 | 0 | China. | |
| G. tsushimaensis | (Isogawa, Moriya & Mitsui, 1994) | 0 | Tsushima Island pitviper | Tsushima Island, Japan. |
| G. ussuriensis | (Emelianov, 1929) | 0 | Ussuri mamushi | Far east Russia (Primorskiy Kray), northeastern China, North and South Korea, as well as Quelpart Island. |
(*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
(T) Type species.
In the above list, a taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus.
Taxonomy edit
Due to the strong morphological similarity, these snakes were classified in the genus Agkistrodon until very recently. However, by 1999 cladistic studies clearly showed that Agkistrodon did not form a clade (indeed, it was not even paraphyletic) and was thus split into several genera.
A new species, G. tsushimaensis, was described by Isogawa, Moriya & Mitsui (1994). It is referred to as the Tsushima island pitviper and is found only on Tsushima Island, Japan.
References edit
- ^ a b c McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- ^ 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. (Gloydius, p. 102).
- ^ a b c d "Gloydius ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 October 2006.
- ^ Gumprecht A, Tillack F, Orlov NL, Captain A, Ryabov S (2004). Asian Pitvipers. First Edition. Berlin: Geitje Books. 368 pp. ISBN 3-937975-00-4.
- ^ Kuttalam, Sourish; Santra, Vishal; Owens, John Benjamin; Selvan, Melvin; Mukherjee, Nilanjan; Graham, Stuart; Togridou, Anatoli; Bharti, Omesh K.; Shi, Jingsong; Shanker, Kartik; Malhotra, Anita (2022). "Phylogenetic and morphological analysis of Gloydius himalayanus (Serpentes, Viperidae, Crotalinae), with the description of a new species". European Journal of Taxonomy (852): 1–30. doi:10.5852/ejt.2022.852.2003. S2CID 254676412. (Gloydius chambensis, new species).
- ^ Zhang, Mei-Hua; Shi, Sheng-Chao; Li, Cheng; Yan, Peng; Wang, Ping; Ding, Li; Du, Jie; Plenković-Moraj, Anđelka; Jiang, Jian-Ping; Shi, Jing-Song (2022-07-25). "Exploring cryptic biodiversity in a world heritage site: a new pitviper (Squamata, Viperidae, Crotalinae) from Jiuzhaigou, Aba, Sichuan, China". ZooKeys (1114): 59–76. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1114.79709. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 9848824. PMID 36761701. (Gloydius lateralis, new species).
- ^ Gloyd HK, Conant R (1990). Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex: A Monographic Review. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 614 pp., 52 plates. LCCN 89-50342. ISBN 0-916984-20-6.
Further reading edit
- Hoge AR, Romano-Hoge SA (1981). "Poisonous Snakes of the World. I. Checklist of the Pitvipers: Viperoidea, Viperidae, Crotalinae". Memórias do Instituto Butantan 42/43: 179-309. (Gloydius, new genus).
- Isogawa, Kiyoshi; Moriya, Akira; Mitsui, Sadaaki (1994). "A new snake from the genus Agkistrodon (Serpentes: Viperidae) from Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture". Japanese Journal of Herpetology 15: 101-111. (Agkistrodon tsushimaensis, new species).
External links edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gloydius.
- Gloydius at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 December 2007.
- Taxonomy comparison by Dr. Wolfgang Wüster at Dr. Brian Grieg Fry's Int'l Venom & Toxin Database. Accessed 25 July 2007.