NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Eirenis medus (Chernov, 1940)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Eirenis medus is a species of nonvenomous dwarf snake from the family Colubridae. Its common names include Ashkhabad Dwarf Racer, Turkmen Dwarf Snake, and Striped Dwarf Snake. It is commonly found under rocks in semi-deserts and canyons throughout Iran and southern Turkmenistan at altitudes between 1100–1600 m (approx. 3609–5249 ft.) above sea level. It is insectivorous along with eating small lizards and other arthropods.
Wikipedia contributors, Eirenis medus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:26:52.438971+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Eirenis medus (Chernov, 1940)
- Name authority
- (Chernov, 1940)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Eirenis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyColubrinae
- genusEirenis
- speciesEirenis medus (Chernov, 1940)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Eirenis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| African Dwarf SnakeEirenis africanus (Boulenger, 1914) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Baran Dwarf RacerEirenis barani Schmidtler, 1988 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Collared Dwarf RacerEirenis collaris (Ménétries, 1832) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eirenis coronelloides (Jan, 1862) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| English common name not availableEirenis decemlineatus (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eirenis lineomaculatus Schmidt, 1939 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eirenis occidentalis Rajabizadeh, Nagy, Adriaens, Avci, Masroor, Schmidtler, Nazarov, Esmaeili & Christiaens, 2015 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rechinger’s dwarf racerEirenis rechingeri Eiselt, 1971 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eirenis thospitis Schmidtler & Lanza, 1990 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dark-headed Dwarf RacerEirenis persicus (Anderson, 1872) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eirenis rafsanjanicus Akbarpour, Rastegar-Pouyani, Fathinia & Rastegar-Pouyani, 2020 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eirenis yassujicus Fathinia, Rastegar-Pouyani & Shafaeipour, 2019 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Contia meda Chernov ex Terentjev & Chernov, 1940 Chernov ex Terentjev & Chernov, 1940 | synonym |
| Contia fasciata Boulenger, 1886 Boulenger, 1886 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Eirenis&species=medus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:38W35. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.