Lycodon Explained

Lycodon is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as wolf snakes.^[1] The Neo-Latin name Lycodon is derived from the Greek words λύκος (lykos) meaning wolf and οδόν (odon) meaning tooth,^[2] and refers to the fang-like anterior maxillary and mandibular teeth. They are nonvenomous, but many members of this genus strongly resemble the venomous kraits in appearance, an example of Emsleyan mimicry.

Fossil record

Fossils of Lycodon are known from the Early Pliocene of Henan.^[3]

Species

The genus Lycodon comprises 73 recognized species.^[4]

• Lycodon albofuscus – dark wolf snake
• Lycodon alcalai – Alcala's wolf snake
• Lycodon anakradaya
• Lycodon anamallensis – Colombo wolf snake
• Lycodon aulicus – Indian wolf snake, common wolf snake
• Lycodon banksi Luu et al., 2018 – Banks's wolf snake
• Lycodon bibonius – Ota's wolf snake
• Lycodon bicolor – Mackinnon's wolf snake
• Lycodon butleri – Butler's wolf snake
• Lycodon capucinus – common wolf snake
• Lycodon cardamomensis
• Lycodon carinatus – Ceylon wolf snake
• Lycodon cathaya – Huaping wolf snake
• Lycodon cavernicolus – Gua Wang Burma wolf snake
• Lycodon chapaensis (Angel & Bourret, 1933) – Namdong wolf snake
• Lycodon chithrasekarai Wickramasinghe et al., 2020 – Chithrasekara's bridle snake
• Lycodon chrysoprateros – Ross's wolf snake
• Lycodon davidi – David's wolf snake
• Lycodon davisonii – Blanford's bridal snake
• Lycodon deccanensis
• Lycodon dumerili – Duméril's wolf snake
• Lycodon effraenis – brown wolf snake
• Lycodon fasciatus
• Lycodon fasciolatus – banded wolf snake
• Lycodon fausti – Faust's wolf snake
• Lycodon ferroni – Ferron's Asian wolf snake
• Lycodon flavicollis – yellow-collared wolf snake
• Lycodon flavomaculatus – yellow-spotted wolf snake
• Lycodon flavozonatus – yellow-banded big tooth snake, yellow-spotted wolf snake, big-tooth snake
• Lycodon futsingensis
• Lycodon gammiei – Gammie's wolf snake, Sikkim false wolf snake
• Lycodon gibsonae – Gibson's wolf snake
• Lycodon gongshan – Gongshan wolf snake
• Lycodon gracilis – scarce bridal snake
• Lycodon hypsirhinoides
• Lycodon jara – twin-spotted wolf snake
• Lycodon kundui
• Lycodon laoensis – Laotian wolf snake
• Lycodon liuchengchaoi
• Lycodon meridionalis
• Lycodon muelleri – Müller's wolf snake
• Lycodon multifasciatus
• Lycodon multizonatus – Luding wolf snake, Luding Kukri snake
• Lycodon namdongensis ^[5]
• Lycodon nympha – Vellore bridal snake
• Lycodon obvelatus – recluse wolf snake
• Lycodon ophiophagus – snake-eater wolf snake
• Lycodon orientalis – Oriental odd-tooth snake
• Lycodon paucifasciatus – Rendahl's wolf snake
• Lycodon philippinus – Philippine dryocalamus
• Lycodon pictus
• Lycodon rosozonatus – rose big-tooth snake
• Lycodon rufozonatus – red-banded snake
• Lycodon ruhstrati – mountain wolf snake, Formosa wolf snake
• Lycodon sealei – Seale's banded Asian wolf snake
• Lycodon semicarinatus – Loo-Choo big-tooth snake, Ryukyu odd-tooth snake
• Lycodon septentrionalis – white-banded wolf snake, northern large-toothed snake
• Lycodon serratus – serrate-banded wolf snake
• Lycodon sidiki
• Lycodon solivagus – common wolf snake
• Lycodon stormi – Sulawesi wolf snake
• Lycodon striatus – northern wolf snake, barred wolf snake
• Lycodon subannulatus – Malayan bridal snake, southern bridle snake
• Lycodon subcinctus – Malayan banded wolf snake
• Lycodon synaptor – Boehme's wolf snake
• Lycodon tessellatus – Manila wolf snake
• Lycodon tiwarii – Andaman wolf snake
• Lycodon travancoricus – Travancore wolf snake
• Lycodon tristrigatus
• Lycodon truongi – Truong's wolf snake
• Lycodon zawi ^[6] – Zaw's wolf snake
• Lycodon zayuensis
• Lycodon zoosvictoriae – Zoos Victoria's wolf snake

Nota bene

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Home . britannica.com.
2. Mish, Frederick C. (Editor in Chief) (2004). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 40a + 1,623 pp. . ("lycopodium", p. 742; "odonate" p. 860).
3. Shi . Jingsong . Wang . Yuan . Messenger . Kevin Robert . Jiangzuo . Qigao . Chen . Yu . Jin . Changzhu . 2 January 2023 . Early Pliocene fossil snakes (Squamata, Colubroidea) with various teeth from the fissure deposit in Queshan, Henan, China . Historical Biology . en . 1–22 . 10.1080/08912963.2022.2161382 . 0891-2963 . 21 September 2024 . Taylor and Francis Online.
4. Web site: Lycodon . The Reptile Database. 11 June 2015. Uetz. Peter. species:Peter Uetz. Hallermann. Jakob. species:Jakob Hallermann.
5. Luu . Vinh Quang . Ziegler . Thomas . Ha . Nghia Van . Le . Minh Duc . Hoang . Tuoi Thi . 2019-04-17 . A new species of Lycodon Boie, 1826 (Serpentes: Colubridae) from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam . Zootaxa . 4586 . 2 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4586.2.3 . 1175-5334.
6. www.reptile-database.org.