''Bofa erlangeri'', also known commonly as the Ethiopian house snake, 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 ...

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lamprophiidae The Lamprophiidae are a family of snakes found throughout much of Africa, including the Seychelles. There are 89 species as of July 2022. Biology Lamprophiids are a very diverse group of snakes. Many are terrestrial but some are fossorial (e.g. ...

. The species 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 else ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Taxonomy

''B. erlangeri'' is the only species in the genus ''Bofa''.

Etymology

The specific name, ''erlangeri'', is in honor of German ornithologist

Carlo von Erlanger Carlo von Erlanger (5 September 1872 – 4 September 1904) was a German ornithologist and explorer born in Ingelheim am Rhein. He was a cousin to musicologist Rodolphe d'Erlanger (1872-1932). ''(See: Erlanger family tree).'' He studied ornithol ...

, who was one of the collectors of the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

. Sternfeld R (1908).

Geographic range

''B. erlangeri'' is found in the central plateau of Ethiopia.

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of ''B. erlangeri'' are

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

, at altitudes of , and it has also been found in farmland.

Description

''B. erlangeri'' may attain a total length (including tail) of .

Diet

''B. erlangeri''

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

upon rodents.

Reproduction

''B. erlangeri'' is oviparous.

References

* Largen MJ, Spawls S (2010). ''Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea''. Frankfurt am Main: Edition Chimaira / Serpents Tale. 694 pp. . (''Lamprophis erlangeri'', p. 467). * Nečas P (1997). "Five endemic montane snakes from Ethiopia". ''Reptile & Amphibian Magazine'' 49: 58–65. (''Lamprophis erlangeri'', new combination). * Sternfeld R (1908). "''Neue und ungenügend bekannte afrikanische Schlangen'' ". ''Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin'' 4: 92–95. (''Boodon erlangeri'', new species, p. 92). (in German). * Tiutenko A, Koch C, Pabijan M, Zinenko O (2022). "Generic affinities of African house snakes revised: a new genus for ''Boodon erlangeri'' (Serpentes: Elapoidea: Lamprophiidae: Lamprophiinae)". ''Salamandra'' 58 (4): 235–262. (''Bofa'', new genus, p. 240; ''Bofa erlangeri'', new combination, p. 241). * Wallach V, Williams KL, Boundy J (2014). ''Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species''. Boca Raton, London, New York: CRC Press, an Imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. 1,237 pp. . (''Boaedon erlangeri'', p. 95). Lamprophiidae Snakes of Africa Reptiles of Ethiopia Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Reptiles described in 1908 Taxa named by Richard Sternfeld {{Colubrids-stub