Apostolepis

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Colubroidea

Familia: Dipsadidae
Subfamilia: Dipsadinae
Genus: Apostolepis
Species (35): A. adhara – A. albicollaris – A. ambiniger – A. arenaria – A. assimilis – A. borellii – A. breviceps – A. cearensis – A. cerradoensis – A. christianeae – A. dimidiata – A. dorbignyi – A. flavotorquata – A. gaboi – A. goiasensis – A. intermedia – A. kikoi – A. lineata – A. longicaudata – A. multicincta – A. nelsonjorgei – A. niceforoi – A. nigrolineata – A. nigroterminata – A. phillipseae – A. polylepis – A. pymi – A. quirogai – A. sanctaeritae – A. serrana – A. striata – A. tenuis – A. thalesdelemai – A. underwoodi – A. vittata
Name

Apostolepis Cope, 1862: 524

Type species: Elapomorphus flavotorquatus Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854, by subsequent designation by Amaral (1929: 109).
References
Primary references

Cope, E.D. [1861] 1862. On Elapomorphus, Sympholis, and Coniophanes. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13: 524. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Albuquerque, N.R. & Lema, T. 2012. Description of the second known specimen of Apostolepis intermedia (Serpentes, Colubridae, Xenodontinae). Zootaxa 3325: 53–58. Preview Reference page.
Costa, H.C. & Bérnils, R.S. 2015. Apostolepis parassimilis Lema & Renner, 2012 an objective synonym of A. tertulianobeui Lema, 2004 (Dipsadidae: Elapomorphini). Zootaxa 3957(2): 243–245. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3957.2.10. Preview (PDF). Reference page.
Borges-Nojosa, D.M., Lima, D.C., Bezerra, C.H. & Harris, D.J. 2016. Two new species of Apostolepis Cope, 1862 (Serpentes: Elapomorphini) from brejos de altitude in Northeastern Brazil. Revista Nordestina de Zoologia 10(2): 74–94. Full article (PDF). Reference page.
Lema, T. & Campbell, P. 2017. New Species of Apostolepis (Serpentes, Dipsadinae, Elapomorphini) from Bolivia, from the Apostolepis borellii Group. Research & Reviews: Journal of Zoological Sciences 5(1): 19–28. Full article (PDF). Reference page.
Santos, F.M. dos, Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Araújo, J. da S., Souza, M.B. de, Lema, T. de, Strüssmann, C. & Albuquerque, N.R. de 2018. A new species of burrowing snake (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Apostolepis) from the state of Mato Grosso, Central-West region of Brazil. Zoologia 35: e26742. DOI: 10.3897/zoologia.35.e26742 Reference page.
França, D.P.F., Barbo, F.E., Silva Jr., N.J., Silva, H.L.R. & Zaher, H. 2018. A new species of Apostolepis (Serpentes, Dipsadidae, Elapomorphini) from the Cerrado of Central Brazil. Zootaxa 4521(4): 438–552. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4521.4.3. Reference page.
Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Sena, A. de, Tiutenko, A. & Loebmann, D. 2019. Taxonomic status of Apostolepis barrioi Lema, 1978, with comments on the taxonomic instability of Apostolepis Cope, 1862 (Serpentes, Dipsadidae). Zookeys 841: 71–78. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.841.33404 Reference page.
Entiauspe-Neto, O.M. & Tiutenko, A. 2020. On the taxonomic status of Apostolepis roncadori Lema, 2016 and Apostolepis vittata (Cope, 1887) (Serpentes: Dipsdidae). Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetologia 3(2): 114–119. Reference page.
Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Medina Rangel, G.F., Guedes, T.B. & Tiutenko, A. 2020. Raising of Lazarus: Rediscovery and redescription of Apostolepis niceforoi Amaral, 1935 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Elapomorphini). Holotipus rivista di zoologia sistematica e tassonomia 1(2): 21–35. Reference page.
Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Koch, C., Guedes, T.B. & Tiutenko, A. 2020. Revisiting the taxonomic status of Apostolepis sanctaeritae, a forgotten Neotropical dipsadid snake. Salamandra 56(4): 329–341. PDF Reference page.
Entiauspe-Neto, O.M., Koch, C., Gray, R., Tiutenko, A., Loebmann, D. & Guedes, T.B.. 2021. Taxonomic status of Apostolepis tertulianobeui Lema, 2004 based on an integrative revision of Apostolepis assimilis (Reinhardt, 1861) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) Zoologischer Anzeiger 291(1): 123-138. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2021.01.004 Paywall Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2021. Apostolepis . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 20 June 2018.

Vernacular names
English: Blackheaded Burrowing Snakes
русский: апостолеписы, черноголовые роющие змеи
українська: чорноголові риючі змії

Apostolepis is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Dipsadinae.[1] However, the familial placement differs among sources. It has also been placed in the family Colubridae, subfamily Dipsadinae[2] or Xenodontinae,[3] or in the family Xenodontidae.[4] The genus Apostolepis is endemic to South America.[4]
Species

Apostolepis adhara França, Barbo, Silva-Júnior, Silva & Zaher, 2018
Apostolepis albicollaris de Lema, 2002
Apostolepis ambiniger (W. Peters, 1869)
Apostolepis ammodites Ferrarezzi, Barbo & España Albuquerque, 2005
Apostolepis arenaria Rodrigues, 1993
Apostolepis assimilis (Reinhardt, 1861)
Apostolepis borellii Peracca, 1904
Apostolepis breviceps Harvey, Gonzáles & Scrocchi, 2001
Apostolepis cearensis Gomes, 1915
Apostolepis cerradoensis de Lema, 2003
Apostolepis christineae de Lema, 2002
Apostolepis dimidiata (Jan, 1862)
Apostolepis dorbignyi (Schlegel, 1837)
Apostolepis flavotorquata (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)
Apostolepis gaboi Rodrigues, 1993
Apostolepis goiasensis Prado, 1942
Apostolepis intermedia Koslowsky, 1898
Apostolepis kikoi Santos, Entiauspe-Neto, Araujo, Souza, Lema, Strussmann & Albuquerque, 2018
Apostolepis lineata Cope, 1887
Apostolepis longicaudata Gomes, 1921
Apostolepis multicincta Harvey, 1999
Apostolepis nelsonjorgei de Lema & Renner, 2004
Apostolepis niceforoi Amaral, 1935
Apostolepis nigrolineata (W. Peters, 1869)
Apostolepis nigroterminata Boulenger, 1896
Apostolepis phillipsae Harvey, 1999
Apostolepis polylepis Amaral, 1921
Apostolepis pymi Boulenger, 1903
Apostolepis quirogai Giraudo & Scrocchi, 1998
Apostolepis sanctaeritae Werner, 1924
Apostolepis serrana de Lema & Renner, 2006
Apostolepis striata de Lema, 2004
Apostolepis tenuis Ruthven, 1927
Apostolepis thalesdelemai Borges-Nojosa, Lima, Bezerra & Harris, 2017
Apostolepis underwoodi de Lema & P. Campbell, 2017
Apostolepis vittata (Cope, 1887)

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Apostolepis.
References

Apostolepis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 February 2016.
Vitt, Laurie J.; Caldwell, Janalee P. (2014). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles (4th ed.). Academic Press. pp. 622–626.
"Apostolepis Cope, 1862". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 25 February 2016.

Wallach, Van; Williams, Kenneth L.; Boundy, Jeff (22 April 2014). Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. CRC Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4822-0847-4.