Incaspis Donoso-Barros, 1974

Arredondo, Juan Camilo, Grazziotin, Felipe G., Scrocchi, Gustavo J., Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut, Bonatto, Sandro Luís & Zaher, Hussam, 2020, Molecular phylogeny of the tribe Philodryadini Cope, 1886 (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae): Rediscovering the diversity of the South American Racers, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (Pap. Avulsos Zool., S. Paulo) 60, pp. 1-14 : 9

Genus Incaspis Donoso-Barros, 1974 , resurrected

Type species: Philodryas simonsii Boulenger, 1900 , by original designation.

Content: (three species) Incaspis amaru (Zaher, Arredondo, Valencia, Arbeláez, Rodrigues & Altamirano- Benavides, 2014) new combination; Incaspis simonsii (Boulenger, 1900) new combination; Incaspis tachymenoides (Schmidt & Walker, 1943) new combination.

Diagnosis: Same as the tribe.

Geographical distribution: Same as the tribe.

Etymology: The genus name is a combination of the Quechua word Inca (adjective, meaning royalty) and the Greek word -aspis (noun, ἀσπίς, meaning venomous snake), in reference to the Andean region where the Inca Empire was established.

Comment: The generic name Incaspis was erected by Donoso-Barros (1974) to describe Incaspis cercostropha , which, along with Dromicus angustilineatus Schmidt & Walker, 1943 and Dromicus inca Schmidt & Walker, 1943 , were shortly after placed under the synonymy of Philodryas simonsii Boulenger, 1900 by Thomas (1977). Although no tissue samples were available from Incaspis amaru , we allocate this species in the genus Incaspis since it shares all the diagnostic features listed above for the genus and the tribe. The occurrence of I. amaru in the same biogeographical region as I. simonsii and I. tachymenoides also supports its allocation in the tribe, which seems to be an endemic component of Central Andes.