Xenophidion acanthognathus GÜNTHER & MANTHEY, 1995
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Xenophidion acanthognathus
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| Higher Taxa | Xenophidiidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Bornean spine-jawed snake G: Borneo-Stachelkiefer |
| Synonym | Xenophidion acanthognathus GÜNTHER & MANTHEY 1995 Xenophidion acanthognathus — LAWSON et al. 2004 Xenophidion acanthognathus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 803 |
| Distribution | Malaysia (Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak) Type Locality: Sipitang Dist., Mendolong, Sabah (Borneo). |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: FMNH 235170 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): members of the genus Xenophidion have a combination of character states (Günther & Manthey 1995) including the absence of premaxillary teeth; the presence of small, numerous, approximately equal-sized, aglyphous, weakly recurved palatine, pterygoid, and maxillary teeth; maxillae bearing a long, tapering palatine processes (Processus praefrontales), and a broad, long and thin ectopterygoid processes (Processus pterygoideus); ectopterygoids extending nearly to the middle of the maxillae and almost completely adhering to them; dentary with a bent anterior end and significantly enlarged caniniform tooth; undivided nasals extending ventrally from the midline of the rostrum to near the opening of the mouth; internasals absent, probably fused with prefrontals or nasals; prefrontals greatly enlarged, forming the largest scales on the top of the head; all dorsal head shields extending to the three bordering the prefrontals posteriorly approximately the same modest size, the three bordering the prefrontals are enlarged and possibly fused with the preoculars and the frontal (or parts of it); numerous sensory papillae located on most head shields and especially on the labial scales; loreals absent; suboculars absent; dorsal scales keeled with rounded tips; ventrals narrow; anal plate single; and subcaudals undivided. (Quah et al. 2018). |
| Comment | Abundance: only known from 2 specimens. Phylogenetics: LAWSON et al. (2004) placed Xenophidion in the family Xenophiidae based primarily on cyt b sequences which suggest a possible sister taxon relationship between Xenophidion and the Bolyeridae. Moreover, strong statistical support also indicates that Xenophiidae is a member of a clade that contains Pythonidae, Loxocemidae, Uropeltidae, Xenopeltidae and Bolyeriidae. Otherwise, available data produced little phylogenetic information valuable to understanding the relationship of Xenophiidae among the Alethinophidia. Wallach & Günther (1998) proposed to establish a new family, Xenophidiidae, for this genus, based on visceral anatomy. The Xenophidiidae are a sister family of the Bolyeriidae (Pyron et al. 2013). Type species: Xenophidion acanthognathus GÜNTHER & MANTHEY 1995 is the type species of the genus Xenophidion GÜNTHER & MANTHEY 1995. |
| Etymology | The Greek word acantha means spine or thorn, the likewise Greek gnathos means jaw. The combination of the two words refers to the long, spiny palatine process on the anterior end of the maxilla, which is a distinguishing characteristic not only of this species, but of the new genus Xenophidion in its entirety. |
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