Hypoptophis
Hypoptophis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Atractaspididae |
Genus: | Hypoptophis Boulenger, 1908 |
Species: | H. wilsonii
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Binomial name | |
Hypoptophis wilsonii Boulenger, 1908
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Synonyms[1] | |
- Common names: African bighead snake, wedge-snouted burrowing snake.[1]
Hypoptophis is a
Geographic range
Hypoptophis wilsonii is found in Angola, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), and Zambia.[1]
The
Description (diagnosis) of genus
The genus Hypoptophis exhibits the following characters. The maxilla is very short, with four teeth gradually increasing in size, followed, after an interspace, by two large grooved fangs situated below the eye. The anterior mandibular teeth are slightly enlarged. The head is small, not distinct from neck. The snout is much depressed, very prominent. The rostral is very large, with an obtuse horizontal edge, concave below. The eye is very small, with a vertically elliptic pupil. The nostril is pierced in a semidivided nasal. There is no loreal scale. There is one preocular, which is in contact with the nasal. The body is cylindrical. The tail is short. The dorsal scales are smooth, without pits, and arranged in 15 rows at midbody. The ventrals are rounded. The subcaudals are single (undivided).[3]
Description of species
Hypoptophis wilsonii is completely blackish brown both
The holotype, a female, is 56 cm (22 in) in total length, of which 10 cm (3+7⁄8 in) is tail.
The ventrals number 118. The anal plate is entire. The subcaudals number 36, and are also entire.
The portion of the rostral visible from above is as long as its distance from the
Reproduction
Etymology
The
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Species Hypoptophis wilsonii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ "Hypoptophis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
- ^ a b c d Boulenger GA (1908). "Description of Three new Snakes from Africa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Eighth Series 2: 93-94. (Hypoptophis wilsonii, new species).
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hypoptophis wilsonii, p. 287).
External links
- Photograph of holotype of Hypoptophis wilsonii (and other African venomous snakes). http://www.megasphera.cz/africanvenomoussnakes/_private/photo_snakes%20AFR.htm