Chironius

Chironius bicarinatus

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Colubroidea

Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Amorphea Cladus: Obazoa Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Cladus: Filozoa Cladus: Choanozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: ParaHoxozoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Cladus: Olfactores Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Cladus: Eugnathostomata Cladus: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Cladus: Stegocephali Superclassis: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Cladus: Sauropsida Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Cladus: Diapsida Cladus: Neoreptilia Cladus: Parapleurota Cladus: Neodiapsida Cladus: Sauria Cladus: Lepidosauromorpha Superordo: Lepidosauria Ordo: Squamata Cladus: Toxicofera Subordo: Serpentes Cladus: Caenophidia Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Colubridae
Subfamilia: Colubrinae
Genus: Chironius
Species (28): C. bicarinatus – C. brazili – C. carinatus – C. challenger – C. cochranae – C. diamantina – C. dixoni – C. dracomaris – C. exoletus – C. flavolineatus – C. flavopictus – C. foveatus – C. fuscus – C. gouveai – C. grandisquamis – C. laevicollis – C. leucometapus – C. maculoventris – C. monticola – C. multiventris – C. nigelnoriegai – C. quadricarinatus – C. scurrula – C. septentrionalis – C. spixii – C. vincenti – C. whipala – C. xaraes

Name

Chironius Fitzinger, 1826: 29

• Type species: Coluber carinatus Linnaeus, 1758, by subsequent designation of Ruthven (1922: 65).

Synonyms

• Erpetodryas Boie in Schlegel, 1826: 237
  • Type species: not designated, includes carinatus, laevicollis, bicarinatus and quadricarinatus.
• Herpetodryas Wagler, 1830: 180 [emendation of Erpetodryas Boie, 1826]
• Macrops Wagler, 1830: 182
  • Type species: Coluber saturninus Linnaeus, 1758, by monotypy.
• Hylophis Fitzinger, 1843: 26
  • Type species: Coluber laevicollis Wied, 1824, by original designation.
• Phyllosira Cope, 1862: 349
  • Type species: Phyllosira flavescens Cope, 1862, by monotypy.

References

Primary references

• Fitzinger, L. 1826. Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften. Nebst einer Verwandtschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. zoologischen Museum's zu Wien. J.G. Hübner: Wien. vii + 66 pp. BHL Reference page. 
• Schlegel, H. 1826. Notice sur l'Erpétologie de I'ile de Java; par M Boié (Ouvrage manuscrit). Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie. 9(203): 233–240 BHL Reference page. 
• Wagler, J.G. 1830. Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugetiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung: München, Stuttgart, & Tübingen. 354 pp. BHL Reference page. 
• Fitzinger, L. 1843. Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus primus. Amblyglossae. Braumüller et Seidel: Wien. vi + 106 pp. BHL Reference page. 
• Cope, E.D. 1862. Catalogue of the Reptiles obtained during the Explorations of the Parana, Paraguay, Vermejo and Uraguay Rivers, by Capt. Thos. J. Page, U. S. N.; and of those procured by Lieut. N. Michler, U. S. Top. Eng., Commander of the Expedition conducting the Survey of the Atrato River. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 14: 346–359. BHL Reference page. 

Additional references

• Dixon, J.R., Wiest, J.A. & Cei, J.M. 1993. Revision of the Neotropical snake genus Chironius Fitzinger (Serpentes, Colubridae). Monografie di Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino 13: 1–280. ISBN 9788886041058 Reference page. 
• Hollis, J.L. 2006. Phylogenetics of the genus Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 (Serpentes, Colubridae) based on morphology. Herpetologica 62(4): 435–453. JSTOR Reference page. 
• Kok, P.J.R. 2010. A new species of Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Pantepui region, northeastern South America. Zootaxa 2611(1): 31–44. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2611.1.3 Reference page. 
• Klaczko, J., Machado, F. de A., Scrocchi, G.J. & Zaher, H. 2010. Taxonomic status of Chironius multiventris and Chironius cochranae (Serpentes). Herpetologica 66(4): 476–484. DOI: 10.1655/HERPETOLOGICA-D-09-00012.1 Reference page. 
• Fernandes, D.S. & Hamdan, B. 2014. A new species of Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 from the state of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zootaxa 3881(6): 563–575. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3881.6.5 Reference page. 
• Hamdan, B., Scali, S. & Fernandes, D.S. 2014. On the identity of Chironius flavolineatus (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zootaxa 3794(1): 134–142. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3794.1.6 Reference page. 
• Klaczko, J., Montingelli, G.G. & Zaher, H. 2014. A combined morphological and molecular phylogeny of the genus Chironius Fitzinger, 1826 (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171(3): 656–667. DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12147 Reference page. 
• Hamdan, B. & Fernandes, D.S. 2015. Taxonomic revision of Chironius flavolineatus (Jan, 1863) with description of a new species (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zootaxa 4012(1): 97–119. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4012.1.5 Reference page. 
• Hamdan, B., Pereira, A.G., Loss-Oliveira, L., Rödder, D. & Schrago, C.G. 2017. Evolutionary analysis of Chironius snakes unveils cryptic diversity and provides clues to diversification in the Neotropics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 116: 108–119. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.08.004 Reference page. 
• Torres-Carvajal, O., Echevarría, L.Y., Lobos, S.E., Venegas, P.J. & Kok, P.J.R. 2019. Phylogeny, diversity and biogeography of Neotropical Sipo Snakes (Serpentes: Colubrinae: Chironius). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 315–329. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.022 Reference page. 
• Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Lyra, M.L., Koch, C., Quintela, F.M., Abegg, A.D. & Loebmann, D. 2020. Taxonomic Revision of Chironius bicarinatus (Wied 1820) (Serpentes: Colubridae), with Description of a New Species. Herpetological Monographs 34(1): 98–115. DOI: 10.1655/HERPMONOGRAPHS-D-19-00013.1 Reference page. 
• Bernal, R. & Dubois, A. 2023. Chironius scurrula, the correct nomen for Chironius scurrulus (Squamata, Serpentes, Colubridae), with a list of the correct spellings of specific epithets currently in use in this genus. Bionomina 34(1): 35–44. DOI: 10.11646/bionomina.34.1.3 Reference page. 
• Sudré, V., Andrade-Júnior, A., Folly, M., Azevedo, J.A.R., Ávila, R.W., Curcio, F.F., Nunes, P.M.S. & Passos, P. 2024. Revision of the Chironius bicarinatus complex (Serpentes: Colubridae): Redefined species boundaries and description of a new species. Vertebrate Zoology 74: 85–120. DOI: 10.3897/vz.74.e106238 Reference page. 
• Jadin, R.C., Jowers, M.J., Blair, C., Ludwig, R.K., Salgado-Irazabal, X. & Murphy, J.C. 2024. Rectifying a century of misidentifications: a taxonomic re-evaluation of sipo snakes (Colubridae: Chironius) on Trinidad. Systematics and Biodiversity 22(1): 2338064. DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2024.2338064 Reference page. 
• Sudré, V., Ceríaco, L.M.P., Torres-Carvajal, O., Strüssmann, C., Curcio, F.F., Colli, G.R. & Passos, P. 2026. Systematics of Chironius laurenti Dixon, Wiest and Cei 1993 (Serpentes: Colubridae) reveals unexpected taxonomic insights. Organisms Diversity & Evolution in press. DOI: 10.1007/s13127-026-00698-1 Reference page. 

Links

• Uetz, P., Freed, P., Aguilar, R., F. Reyes, J. Kudera & Hošek, J. (eds.) 2026. Chironius . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 23 November 2025.

Vernacular names

• English: Sipos
• português do Brasil: Cobras-cipós

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