View source for Anilius

{{Short description|Genus of snakes}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Anilius scytale.jpg
| grandparent_authority = [[Leonhard Stejneger|Stejneger]], 1907
| genus = Anilius
| parent_authority = [[Lorenz Oken|Oken]], 1816
| species = scytale
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map = Anilius scytale Map.jpg
| display_parents = 4
| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title=List}}
* Ilysioidea - Fitzinger, 1826
* Tortricina - Müller, 1823
* Tortricidae - Jan, 1863
* Ilysiidae - Boulenger, 1890
* Aniliidae - Stejneger, 1907
* Anilidae - Amaral, 1930
* Aniliinae - Romer, 1956<ref name="McD99">[[:fr:Roy Wallace McDiarmid|McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell JA]], Touré T. 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).</ref>
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* ''Tortrix'' - Oppel, 1811
* ''Anilius'' - Oken, 1816
* ''Elysia'' - Hemprich, 1820
* ''Helison'' - Brazil, <!-- 526 --> 
* ''Ilysia'' - Lichtenstein, 1823
* ''Torquatrix'' - Haworth, 1825
* ''Illisia'' - Schinz, 1883
* ''Anileus'' - Agassiz, 1844<ref name="McD99"/>
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* [''Anguis''] ''Scytale'' {{small|[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]}}
* ''Anguis annulata'' {{small|[[Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti|Laurenti]], 1768}}
* ''Anguis fasciata'' {{small|Laurenti, 1768}}
* ''Anguis caerulae'' {{small|Laurenti, 1768}}
* ''Anguis corallina'' {{small|Laurenti, 1768}}
* ''Anguis atra'' {{small|Laurenti, 1768}}
* [''Anguis''] ''ater'' {{small|— [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1788}}
* ''Anguis Corallinus'' <br>{{small|— [[Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider|Schneider]], 1801}}
* ''Anguis fasciatus'' <br>{{small|— Schneider, 1801}}
* ''Anguis ruber'' <br>{{small|[[Pierre André Latreille|Latreille]] ''In'' [[Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt|Sonnini]] & Latreille, 1801}}
* ''Tortr''[''ix'']. ''scytale'' {{small|— [[Nicolaus Michael Oppel|Oppel]], 1811}}
* ''Tortr''[''ix'']. ''coralinus'' [sic] <br>{{small|Oppel, 1811}} (''[[ex errore]]'')
* ''Anilius scytale'' {{small|— [[Lorenz Oken|Oken]], 1816}}
* [''Tortrix''] ''annulata'' {{small|— [[Blasius Merrem|Merrem]], 1820}}
* ''Anguis'' (''Elysia'') ''Scytale'' <br>{{small|— [[Wilhelm Hemprich|Hemprich]], 1820}}
* ''Ilysia scytale'' {{small|— [[Martin Lichtenstein|Lichtenstein]], 1823}}
* ''Torquatrix scytale'' {{small|— [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1825}}
* ''Tortrix scytale''<br>{{small| — [[André Marie Constant Duméril|A.M.C. Duméril]] & [[Gabriel Bibron|Bibron]], 1844}}
* ''Ilysia scytale'' {{small|— [[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger]], 1893}}
* ''A''[''nilius'']. ''scytale'' [''scylate''] [sic] {{small|[[Janis Roze|Roze]], 1958}} (''ex errore'')
* ''Anilius scytale scytale'' <br>{{small|— [[James A. Peters|J. Peters]] & [[Braulio Rubí Orejas-Miranda|Orejas-Miranda]], 1970}}<ref name="McD99"/>
{{hidden end}}
}}

The '''Aniliidae''' are a [[monotypic]] [[Family (biology)|family]]<ref name="ITIS-F"/> created for the monotypic [[genus]] '''''Anilius'''''<ref name="ITIS-G">{{ITIS |id=209612 |taxon=''Anilius'' |access-date=14 August 2007}}</ref> that contains the single [[species]] '''''Anilius scytale'''''.<ref name="ITIS-S">{{ITIS |id=209613 |taxon=''Anilius scytale'' |access-date=14 August 2007}}</ref> Common names include the '''American pipe snake''' and '''false coral snake'''.<ref name="ITIS-F">{{ITIS |id=209611 |taxon=Aniliidae |access-date=14 August 2007}}</ref> It is found in [[South America]]. This [[snake]] possesses a [[vestigial]] [[pelvis|pelvic]] girdle that is visible as a pair of [[cloaca]]l spurs. It is [[Ovoviviparity|ovoviviparous]]. It is non-venomous, and its diet consists mainly of [[amphibians]] and other [[reptiles]]. Two subspecies are recognized, including the [[Subspecies#Nominotypical subspecies and subspecies autonyms|nominate subspecies]] described here.<ref name="ITIS-S"/>

==Description==
[[File:Illustration of a Caiman crocodilus and an Anilius scytale (1701–1705) by Maria Sibylla Merian.jpg|thumb|left|[[Spectacled caiman]] and false coral snake by [[Maria Sibylla Merian]]]]
This species is found in the [[Amazon rainforest]] of [[South America]], the [[Guianas]], and [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. It is a moderate-sized snake attaining a size of about {{convert|70|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length. It is [[fossorial]] and is rarely seen.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lainson |first=Ralph |author-link=Ralph Lainson |date=April 2005 |title=The Genus Cyclospora (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), with a description of Cyclospora schneideri n.sp. in the snake Anilius scytale scytale (Aniliidae) from Amazonian Brazil: a review |url=https://www.scielo.br/j/mioc/a/rKrv6ssNPVbSZFbXPdwYkQv/?lang=en |journal=Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz |language=en |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=103–110 |doi=10.1590/S0074-02762005000200001 |pmid=16021295 |issn=0074-0276|hdl=1807/8227 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> It is reported to be [[Ovoviviparity|ovoviviparous]] and feeds on [[beetle]]s, [[caecilians]] (burrowing legless [[amphibian]]s), [[Amphisbaena (genus)|amphisbaenids]] or worm lizards (legless [[lizard]]s), small [[fossorial]] [[snake]]s, [[fish]] (particularly [[Synbranchus|swamp eel]]s), and [[frog]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Niño-Cárdenas |first1=Iván |last2=Aponte-Gutiérrez |first2=Andrés F. |last3=Acosta-Ortiz |first3=Juan |editor-last=Arteaga |editor-first=Alejandro |editor-link=Alejandro Arteaga |chapter=Pipe Snake (Anilius scytale) |title=Reptiles of Ecuador: Life in the middle of the world |date=2024 |url=https://www.reptilesofecuador.com/anilius_scytale.html |doi=10.47051/INQZ9733 |via=reptilesofecuador.com}}</ref> It forages for food on the ground, and sometimes in the water, at night.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Maschio |first1=Gleomar F. |last2=Prudente |first2=Ana Lúcia da C. |last3=Rodrigues |first3=Francílio da S. |last4=Hoogmoed |first4=Marinus S. |date=April 2010 |title=Food habits of Anilius scytale (Serpentes: Aniliidae) in the Brazilian Amazonia |journal=Zoologia (Curitiba) |language=en |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=184–190 |doi=10.1590/S1984-46702010000200005 |issn=1984-4670|doi-access=free }}</ref> It has a cylindrical body of uniform diameter and a very short tail; it is brightly banded in red and black and its reduced eyes lie beneath large head scales. It is considered to be the snake that most resembles the original and ancestral snake condition, such as a lizard-like skull.<ref>[http://www.animalaqua.com/evolution-snake/ Evolution – snake]</ref>

==Geographic range==
It is found in the tropics of northern [[South America]] from southern and eastern [[Venezuela]], [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]] and [[French Guiana]] south through the [[Amazon Basin]] of [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], and [[Brazil]]. The [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] given is "Indiis".<ref name="McD99"/>

==Subspecies==
{| class="wikitable"
!Subspecies<ref name="ITIS-S"/>
!Taxon author<ref name="ITIS-S"/>
!Common name
!Geographic range
|-
|''A. s. phelpsorum''
|[[Janis Roze|Roze]], 1958
|
|style="width:40%"|
|-
|''A. s. scytale''
|([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
|
|
|-
|}

==Taxonomy==
Modern classifications restrict the family to the [[South America]]n pipe snake or false coral snake (''[[Anilius scytale]]''), with the previously included [[Asia]]n genus ''Cylindrophis'' raised to a separate family, [[Cylindrophiidae]]. ''Anilius'' is not closely related to Asian pipesnakes. Instead, its closest relatives appear to be the neotropical [[Tropidophiidae]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Pyron | first1 = RA | last2 = Burbrink | first2 = FT | last3 = Wiens | first3 = JJ | year = 2013 | title = A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | page = 93 | doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-93 | pmid=23627680 | pmc=3682911 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2013BMCEE..13...93P }}</ref><ref name="Reynolds14">{{cite journal|last1=Reynolds|first1=RG|last2=Niemiller|first2=ML|last3=Revell|first3=LJ|title=Toward a Tree-of-Life for the boas and pythons: multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|date=2014|volume=71|pages=201–213|url=http://www.rgrahamreynolds.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Reynolds_etal_2014_MPE.pdf|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2013.11.011|access-date=2018-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202212953/http://www.rgrahamreynolds.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Reynolds_etal_2014_MPE.pdf|archive-date=2015-12-02|url-status=dead|pmid=24315866|bibcode=2014MolPE..71..201G }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Boos HEA. 2001. ''The Snakes of Trinidad and Tobago''. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. {{ISBN|1-58544-116-3}}.
* Martins M, Oliveira ME. 1999. Natural history of snakes in forests of the Manaus region, Central Amazonia, Brazil. ''Herpetological Natural History'' '''6''': 78-150. [http://eco.ib.usp.br/labvert/Martins&Oliveira-HNH-1999.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009174133/http://eco.ib.usp.br/labvert/Martins%26Oliveira-HNH-1999.pdf |date=2013-10-09 }}.
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
*{{Commonscat-inline|Anilius scytale}}
* {{NRDB family|page=aniliidae.php|family=Aniliidae|date=3 November|year=2008}}

{{Snake_families}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q834371}}

[[Category:Aniliidae| ]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Guyana]]
[[Category:Reptiles of Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:Monotypic snake genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Leonhard Stejneger]]
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1758]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]