''Atractaspis leucomelas'', or the Ogaden burrowing asp, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
in the
Atractaspididae
The Atractaspididae (atractaspidids) are a family of venomous snakes found in Africa and the Middle East, commonly called mole vipers, stiletto snakes, or burrowing asps. Currently, 12 genera are recognized.
Description
This family includes many ...
family.
Etymology
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
, ''leucomelas'', is derived from
New Latin
New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...
''leuco'' ("white") and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
μέλας (''melas'',"black"), and refers to this snake's "white and black" coloration.
Geographic range
It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
[Spawls, S. & Branch, B. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa.'' Dubai: Oriental Press, 1995. .] The type locality is "Ogaden, Somaliland".
Description
Dorsally black, with a white vertebral line, occupying one row plus two half rows of dorsal scales. Head white, with a black blotch covering the nasals and the upper head shields; neck entirely black. Ventrals and subcaudals, and four adjacent dorsal scale rows on each side, white.
Snout very short. Portion of rostral visible from above nearly as long as its distance from the frontal. Suture between the internasals half as long as the suture between the prefrontals. Frontal one and two fifths as long as broad, much longer than its distance from the end of the snout.
Dorsal scales in 23 rows. Ventrals 243; anal entire; subcaudals 27, nearly all entire.
The holotype specimen, a female, is in total length, with a tail long.
[ Boulenger, G.A. 1896. ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III''. London. p. 517.]
References
*
Boulenger, G.A. 1895. ''II. Rettili e batraci''. in G. Doria & R. Gestro. ''Esplorazione del
Giuba e dei suoi affluenti compiuta dal cap.
V. Bottego durante gli anni 1892-93 sotto gli auspicii della Società Geografica Italiana - Risultati zoologici''. Annali Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. di Genova (2) 15:7-18. (Even though title is in Italian, section written by Boulenger is in English.)
Atractaspididae
Reptiles described in 1895
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