Talk:Pseudocerastes

Not monotypic
Pseudocerastes urarachnoides. See Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. Ser. IV 57: 443 ("A New Species of Pseudocerastes with Elaborate Tail Ornamentation from Western Iran (Squamata-Viperidae)"; PDF fulltext here) Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 08:08, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


 * It is monotypic according to the taxonomy followed here, which is available online through the ITIS database. The necessary reference you seek is at the end of the article's first sentence. The ITIS snake taxonomy is based on the highly influential 1999 checklist, Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1, by McDiarmid, Campbell and Touré. This book is almost universally recognized by the international herpetological community as the most authoritative taxonomic work on snakes since Boulenger's Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History) (1893-1896). The ITIS website also contains information based on Dr. McDiarmid's continuing work. This is why it was decided at WP:AAR in 2006 to follow ITIS in these matters without question. The paper you found is very interesting, and this new species may eventually find its way into the ITIS taxonomy, but it's also possible that it may not; we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks very much though for bringing this to our attention; I'll be sure to add this new information to the taxonomy section. --Jwinius (talk) 13:23, 14 December 2007 (UTC)