Gloydius
| Gloydius | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Gloydius blomhoffii, Japanese mamushi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Viperidae |
| Subfamily: | Crotalinae |
| Genus: |
Gloydius & Romano-Hoge, 1981 |
| Synonyms | |
Gloydius is a genus of venomous pitvipers endemic to Asia. Named after American herpetologist Howard K. Gloyd, this genus is very similar to the North American genus Agkistrodon. Nine species are currently recognized.
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.
*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type species.
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.
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