Xenocalamus mechowii
| Xenocalamus mechowii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Atractaspididae |
| Genus: | Xenocalamus |
| Species: | X. mechowii |
| Binomial name | |
| Xenocalamus mechowii Peters, 1881 | |
Xenocalamus mechowii, or the elongate quill-snouted snake, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae.[1] It is endemic to Africa.[2]
Etymology
The specific name or epithet, mechowii, is in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow, a Silesian-German explorer of Africa.
Geographic range
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[3]
Description
Dorsally yellowish with brown spots. Some spots arranged in alternating confluent pairs, others forming crossbands. Upper lip, sides of body, and ventrum unspotted.
A subadult 22.5 cm (8¾ inches) in total length has a tail 3.5 cm (1⅜ inch) long.
Dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 17 rows. Ventrals 229-239; anal plate divided; subcaudals 31-36, also divided.
Head scalation same as Xenocalamus bicolor, except no supraoculars and two postoculars.[4]
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized including the nominate race.
- Xenocalamus mechowii inornatus de Witte & Laurent, 1947
- Xenocalamus mechowii mechowii Peters, 1881[5]
Intergrades of these two subspecies can be found in North-Western Province, Zambia.[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ "Xenocalamus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
- ↑ Xenocalamus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 May 2009.
- ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. p. 248.
- ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Broadley, D.G. 1971. A revision of the African snake genera Amblyodipsas and Xenocalamus. Occ. Pap. Natl. Mus. Rhod. B4 (33): 629-697.
References
- Peters, W.C.H. 1881. Zwei neue von Herrn Major von Mechow während seiner letzten Expedition nach West-Afrika entdeckte Schlangen und eine Übersicht der von ihn mitgebrachten herpetologischen Sammlung. Sitzunsber. Ges. naturf. Freunde Berlin 1881 (9): 147-150.
- de Witte, G.F. & R.F. Laurent. 1947. Revision d'un groupe de Colubridae africains: genres Calamelaps, Miodon, Aparallactus, et formes affines. Mém. Mus. Roy. Hist. Nat. Belgique (sér. 2) 29: 1-134.