{{Short description|Genus of snakes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Benny Trapp Schlanknatter Platyceps najadum.JPG | image_caption = ''Platyceps najadum'' | taxon = Platyceps | authority = Blyth, 1860 | subdivision_ranks = Species }}
'''''Platyceps''''' is a genus of snakes of the family Colubridae endemic to Eurasia.
== Taxonomy == The genus was erected in 1860 by Edward Blyth, allying species previously described.
The genus name ''Platyceps'' was inadvertently used for a fossil species in 1877, now recognised as ''Platycepsion wilkinsoni''.<ref name="Warren2000a">{{cite journal |last1=Warren |first1=Anne |author-link=species:A. Anne Warren |last2=Marsicano |first2=Claudia |title=''Banksiops'', a replacement name for ''Banksia townrowi'' (Amphibia, Temnospondyli) |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |date=17 April 2000 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=186 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0186:BARNFB]2.0.CO;2}}</ref>
==Species== The following 30 species are recognized as being valid.<ref>{{EMBL genus|genus=Platyceps}}</ref> *''Platyceps afarensis'' <small>Schätti & Ineich, 2004</small> - Afar racer *''Platyceps atayevi'' <small>(Tuniyev & Shammakov, 1993)</small> *''Platyceps bholanathi'' <small>(Sharma, 1976)</small> - Sharma's racer, Nagarjunasagar racer *''Platyceps brevis'' <small>(Boulenger, 1895)</small> - short racer *''Platyceps collaris'' <small>(F. Müller, 1878)</small> - red whip snake, collared dwarf racer *''Platyceps elegantissimus'' <small>(Günther, 1878)</small> - elegant racer *''Platyceps florulentus'' <small>(I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827)</small> - flowered racer, Geoffroy's racer *''Platyceps gracilis'' {{small|(Günther, 1862)}} - graceful racer, slender racer *''Platyceps insulanus'' <small>(Mertens, 1965)</small> - Sarso Island racer *''Platyceps josephi'' <small>Deepak, Narayanan, Mohapatra, Dutta, Melvinselvan, Khan, Mahlow & Tillack, 2021</small> -Joseph’s racer *''Platyceps karelini'' <small>(Brandt, 1838)</small> - spotted desert racer *''Platyceps ladacensis'' <small>(Anderson, 1871)</small> - braid snake, Jan's cliff racer *''Platyceps largeni'' <small>(Schätti, 2001)</small> - Dahlak racer *''Platyceps messanai'' <small>(Schätti & Lanza, 1989)</small> - Schätti's racer *''Platyceps najadum'' <small>(Eichwald, 1831)</small> - Dahl's whip snake, the slender whip snake *''Platyceps noeli'' <small>Schätti, Tillack & Kucharzewski, 2014</small> - Brahui racer *''Platyceps plinii'' <small>(Merrem, 1820)</small> *''Platyceps rhodorachis'' <small>(Jan, 1865)</small> - common cliff racer, Wadi racer, desert racer, braid snake, Jan’s cliff racer *''Platyceps rogersi'' {{small|(Anderson, 1893)}} - Rogers's racer *''Platyceps saharicus'' <small>Schätti & McCarthy, 2004</small> *''Platyceps schmidtleri'' <small>(Schätti & McCarthy, 2001)</small> *''Platyceps scortecci'' <small>(Lanza, 1963)</small> *''Platyceps sinai'' <small>(Schmidt & Marx, 1956)</small> - Sinai racer, Sinai banded racer *''Platyceps sindhensis'' <small>Schätti, Tillack & Kucharzewski, 2014</small> - Sindh racer *''Platyceps somalicus'' <small>(Boulenger, 1896)</small> - Ogaden racer, Audo racer *''Platyceps taylori'' <small>(Parker, 1949)</small> - Taylor's racer *''Platyceps thomasi'' <small>(Parker, 1931)</small> - Thomas's semi-banded racer *''Platyceps variabilis'' <small>(Boulenger, 1905)</small> - variable snake, variable racer *''Platyceps ventromaculatus'' <small>(Gray, 1834)</small> - Hardwicke's rat snake, glossy-bellied racer, Gray's rat snake, spotted bellied snake *''Platyceps vittacaudatus'' <small>(Blyth, 1854)</small> - striped-tailed racer
''Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Platyceps''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Blyth E (1860). "Report of Curator, Zoological Department". ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' '''29''' (1): 87–115. (''Platyceps'', new genus, p. 114).
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Category:Platyceps Category:Snake genera Category:Taxa named by Edward Blyth
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