DIPSADINAE, Bonaparte, 1838

Myers, Charles W., 2011, A New Genus and New Tribe for Enicognathus melanauchen Jan, 1863, a Neglected South American Snake (Colubridae: Xenodontinae), with Taxonomic Notes on Some Dipsadinae, American Museum Novitates 2011 (3715), pp. 1-36 : 17

DIPSADINAE

Various authors mention that an undivided sulcus spermaticus characterizes several genera of Dipsadinae that have been grouped under the tribal name “ Leptodeirini ,” although monophyly of the group could not be corroborated with molecular data (Mulcahy, 2007). Another problem is that the sulcus is not strictly single in the type genus Leptodeira , in which it varies from undivided to apically forked. In any case, these genera ( Eridiphas [= Hypsiglena fide Mulcahy, 2008: 1112], Hypsiglena , Imantodes , Leptodeira , Pseudoleptodeira ) are composed of slender, terrestrial to arboreal nocturnal snakes with elliptical pupils and opisthoglyphous dentition; aside from an unforked sulcus, they bear no other resemblance or evident relationship to Amnesteophis . See appendix 1 for hemipenial variation in Leptodeira and taxonomic comments.