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Xenophidion schaeferi GÜNTHER & MANTHEY, 1995

IUCN Red List - Xenophidion schaeferi - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaXenophidiidae, Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Malayan Spinejaw Snake
G: Malayen-Stachelkiefer 
SynonymXenophidion schaeferi GÜNTHER & MANTHEY 1995
Xenophidion schaeferi — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 400
Xenophidion schaeferi — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 191
Xenophidion schaefferi — PAUWELS et al. 2003 (in error)
Xenophidion schaeferi — GOWER et al. 2012: 69
Xenophidion schaeferi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 803
Xenophidion schaefferi — SZYNDLAR & GEORGALIS 2023 
DistributionW Malaysia (Selangor)

Type locality: Primary rainforest ca. 20 km north of Kuala Lumpur on the border of Templer Park, Province Selangor, Malay Peninsula.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 50534 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: See generic diagnosis plus the following characters. In comparison with X. acanthognathus, distinguishing characteristics are the weaker keeling of the dorsal scales, the lower number of subcaudals (43 versus 51 in X. acanthognathus),the higher number of teeth, especially on the dentary ( 19versus 12), the presence of three teeth (versus one in X. acanthognathus)anterior to the canine tooth (fig. 5B), the more weakly developed saddle-shaped depression between the eyes, the rami of the lower jaw, which run parallel to one another (fig. 6C) until quite far anterior (versus clearly converging rami in X. acanthognathus),the fairly straight dark stripe running along the dorsal midline, the wavy upper boundary of the dark lateral stripes, and the absence of a whitish nape patch. 
CommentConservation: potentially threatened - this species is known from only three specimens. 
EtymologyWe dedicate this species to the Berlin amateur herpetologist Christian Schäfer, who not only found the holotype, but has collected and donated to the Zoological Museum, Berlin, many other interesting amphibians and reptiles from southeast Asia. 
References
  • Chan-ard,T.; Grossmann,W.; Gumprecht,A. & Schulz,K. D. 1999. Amphibians and reptiles of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand - an illustrated checklist [bilingual English and German]. Bushmaster Publications, Würselen, Gemany, 240 pp. [book review in Russ. J Herp. 7: 87] - get paper here
  • Fukuyama, Ibuki; Mohamad Yazid Hossman & Kanto Nishikawa 2020. Second specimen of the rare Bornean snake Xenophidion acanthognathus (Xenophidiidae, Serpentes, Reptilia) and confirmation as a distinct species from X. schaeferi. RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 68: 214–219 - get paper here
  • Gower, D.; Garrett, K. & Stafford, P. 2012. Snakes. Firefly Books, Buffalo, NY,<br>144 p..
  • Günther,R. & Manthey,U. 1995. Xenophidion, a new genus with two new species of snakes from Malaysia (Serpentes, Colubridae). Amphibia-Reptilia 16: 229-240 - get paper here
  • Lawson, Robin; Joseph B. Slowinski and Frank T. Burbrink 2004. A molecular approach to discerning the phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic snake Xenophidion schaeferi among the Alethinophidia. Journal of Zoology 263: 285-294 - get paper here
  • Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. 1997. Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 512 pp. - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Pauwels, O.S.G.; David, P.; Chimsunchart, C. & Thirakhupt, K. 2003. Reptiles of Phetchaburi Province, Western Thailand: a list of species, with natural history notes, and a discussion on the biogeography at the Isthmus of Kra. Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University 3 (1): 23-53 - get paper here
  • QUAH, EVAN S.H.; L. LEE GRISMER, THOM JETTEN, PERRY L. WOOD, Jr., AURÉLIEN MIRALLES, SHAHRUL ANUAR MOHD SAH, KURT H.P. GUEK & MATTHEW L. BRADY 2018. The rediscovery of Schaefer’s Spine-jawed Snake (Xenophidion schaeferi Günther & Manthey, 1995) (Serpentes, Xenophidiidae) from Peninsular Malaysia with notes on its variation and the first record of the genus from Sumatra, Indonesia. Zootaxa 4441 (2): 366–378 - get paper here
  • Szyndlar Z, Georgalis GL 2023. An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column. Vertebrate Zoology 73: 717-886 - get paper here
  • Wallach, V. & R. Günther, 1998. Visceral anatomy of the Malaysian snake genus Xenophidion, including a cladistic analysis and allocation to a new family. Amphibia-Reptilia, 19 (4): 385-404 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
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