Phylogeny and biogeography of whipsnakes of the genus Platyceps (Squamata, Colubridae)

The genus Platyceps belongs to family Colubridae, order Squamata, and contains 26 species. It is characterized by slender body, flat head and tail which is not longer than a sixth of the total body length. The distribution of the genus is quite large, it contains Saharo-Sindian biogeographic region which spans from North Africa to East Asia and contains also the area of the Mediterranean Sea and East Africa. The phylogeny of genus Platyceps is unclear. Even thought there have been efforts to untangle it, the genetics-based studies had a limited material available (no study contains all the known species). Moreover, the taxa, especially from the P. rhodorachis-ventromaculatus species complex, are morphologically similar and they be easily mistaken. Another problem is that descriptions of new species are not put in the context of the entire genus, different authors use different names for the same taxon, and most descriptions has been based solely on morphology. The genus was divided into three groups. This division is however based on morphology and biogeography and genetic studies do not always support it