TABLE 1. — The snakes that Pierre Belon (1553) recorded on Lemnos Island according to his work Les observations de plusieurs singularitez & choses memorables, trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte,Arabie, & autres pays estranges, and their current taxonomic names.The species list is based onStrachinis & Roussos (2016).
Pierre Belon’s names (16th century A. D.)
Common (“vulgar”) name Ancient name Taxonomic name Comments
Cenchriti(s) [ΚΕΧρίτης] Cenchris [ΚΕΓΧρίς] Malpolon insignitus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827 See in text: Fig. 3. Merle (2001) states that Cenchris is the Nore-horned viper, Vipera ammodytes but there is no viper species on Lemnos (see below).
Laphiati(s) [ΛαΦιάτης] Elaphis [ἘλαΦίς] (colubrid) Dolichophis caspius Gmelin, 1789 Laphiatis (or Lafiatis) refers to Elaphe quatuorlineata but the species is not present on Lemnos (Strachinis & Roussos 2016).
Ochendra [ΌΧΕντρα] Echis/Echidna [ἜΧις/ἜΧιδνα] (viper?) Natrix natrix Linnaeus, 1758; Eryx jaculus Linnaeus, 1758 There is no viper species on Lemnos; confused with Natrix natrix or Eryx jaculus because of the colouration (Strachinis & Roussos 2016).
Sagittari [Σαϊττάρι] Iaculus/Acontias [Ἀκοντίας] Platyceps najadum Eichwald, 1831 See depiction of Saetta/Sagitta in Belon (1553: 88).
Tephliti(s)/Tephlotis [ΤΥΦλίτης/ΤΥΦλώτης] Tiphlini(s) [ΤΥΦλίνης] Pseudopus apodus Pallas, 1775 Legless lizard but considered as a snake by Belon (1553).
Nerophid(i)a [ΝΕροΦίδα] — Natrix natrix Nerophida (ΝΕροΦίδα) = Water-snake
Amphisbena [ΑΜΦίσβαινα] Amphisbena [ἈΜΦίσβαινα] Eryx jaculus Amphisbaena (ΑΜΦίσβαινα) refers to worm lizards due to their tail that looks like a second head but here, Belon (1553) might refer to Eryx jaculus because of the same characteristic.