Amphiesma
Encyclopedia
Amphiesma is a genus of colubrid
snakes, commonly known as keelbacks because of their keeled dorsal scales. They are all nonvenomous.
, Korea
, China
, the Indian subcontinent
, Indochina
, Southeast Asia
, Japan
, and Indonesia
.
A. beddomei (Günther, 1864) - Nilgiri keelback
A. flavifrons (Boulenger
, 1887) - white-fronted water snake
A. khasiense (Boulenger
, 1890) - Khasi Hills keelback
A. leucomystax David et al., 2007 - white-lipped keelback
A. modestum (Günther, 1875) - modest keelback
A. monticola (Jerdon
, 1853) - hill keelback or Wayanad keelback
A. nicobariense (Sclater
, 1891) - Nicobar Island keelback
A. parallelum (Boulenger
, 1890) - Yunnan keelback
A. pealii (Sclater
, 1891) - Assam keelback
A. platyceps (Blyth
, 1854) - Himalayan keelback
A. sieboldii (Günther, 1860) - Sikkim keelback
A. stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) - buff striped keelback
A. vibakari (Boie
, 1826) - Asian keelback
A. xenura (Wall
, 1907) - Wall's keelback
called alveoli that sometimes support overlapping cellulose
plates to form a type of scaly armor called a theca
.
Colubrid
A colubrid is a member of the snake family Colubridae. This broad classification of snakes includes about two-thirds of all snake species on earth. The earliest species of the snake family date back to the Oligocene epoch. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is the largest snake family...
snakes, commonly known as keelbacks because of their keeled dorsal scales. They are all nonvenomous.
Geographic range
Amphiesma species occur in southern and eastern Asia, including SiberiaSiberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
, Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Species
A. andrae Ziegler & Le, 2006 - Andrea's keelbackA. beddomei (Günther, 1864) - Nilgiri keelback
A. flavifrons (Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1887) - white-fronted water snake
A. khasiense (Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1890) - Khasi Hills keelback
A. leucomystax David et al., 2007 - white-lipped keelback
A. modestum (Günther, 1875) - modest keelback
A. monticola (Jerdon
Thomas C. Jerdon
Thomas Caverhill Jerdon was a British physician, zoologist and botanist. He is best remembered for his pioneering works on the ornithology of India...
, 1853) - hill keelback or Wayanad keelback
A. nicobariense (Sclater
William Lutley Sclater
William Lutley Sclater was a British zoologist and museum director. He was the son of Philip Lutley Sclater, and was named after his paternal grandfather, also William Lutley Sclater....
, 1891) - Nicobar Island keelback
A. parallelum (Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
, 1890) - Yunnan keelback
A. pealii (Sclater
William Lutley Sclater
William Lutley Sclater was a British zoologist and museum director. He was the son of Philip Lutley Sclater, and was named after his paternal grandfather, also William Lutley Sclater....
, 1891) - Assam keelback
A. platyceps (Blyth
Edward Blyth
Edward Blyth was an English zoologist and pharmacist. He was one of the founders of zoology in India....
, 1854) - Himalayan keelback
A. sieboldii (Günther, 1860) - Sikkim keelback
A. stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) - buff striped keelback
A. vibakari (Boie
Friedrich Boie
Friedrich Boie was a German scientist and brother of Heinrich Boie. He was born at Meldorf in Holstein and died at Kiel....
, 1826) - Asian keelback
A. xenura (Wall
Frank Wall
Frank Wall was a physician and herpetologist who lived in Sri Lanka and India.Wall was born in Colombo, Ceylon . His father worked there and was responsible for initiating the study of natural history on the island. Wall studied medicine in London and joined the Indian Medical Service in 1893...
, 1907) - Wall's keelback
Other meanings
"Amphiesma" can also refer to a complex cell covering in some Dinoflagellates, composed of flattened vesiclesVesicle (biology)
A vesicle is a bubble of liquid within another liquid, a supramolecular assembly made up of many different molecules. More technically, a vesicle is a small membrane-enclosed sack that can store or transport substances. Vesicles can form naturally because of the properties of lipid membranes , or...
called alveoli that sometimes support overlapping cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
plates to form a type of scaly armor called a theca
Theca
A theca refers to any case, covering, or sheath.In botany, the theca of an angiosperm consists a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a common area of dehiscence called the stomium. Any part of a microsporophyll that bears microsporangia is called an anther. Most...
.