''Inyoka'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of southern

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 ...

n snakes. The word "inyoka" means "

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 Zulu,

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

, Swahili,

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

and other African languages. These snakes were previously grouped in the genus ''

Lamprophis ''Lamprophis'' is a genus of medium-sized, nonvenomous snakes commonly referred to as African house snakes, in the family Lamprophiidae. Description Species of ''Lamprophis'' exhibit a wide variety of pattern variation, and may be spotted, strip ...

'' but were found to be closer related to '' Hormonotus''; a substantial genetic divergence between them and a 1900 km gap between their geographic ranges meant a new genus was erected for ''Lamprophis swazicus'', the sole species of the new genus.

Species

''Inyoka swazicus'' is commonly known as the Swazi rock snake or Swaziland house snake. It is found in the eastern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and in Eswatini. It inhabits rocky outcrops in

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 ...

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

at altitudes of

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

. Although listed as a " Lower Risk/Near Threatened" species by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN), it is only considered of "Least Concern" in the South African Conservation Assessment of Reptiles in view of its relatively wide distribution and low level of anthropogenic disturbance in its habitat. ''Inyoka swazicus'' can grow to a maximum total length of . The head is small, dorso-ventrally flattened, and broader than neck and distinct from it. Eyes are large, protruding, and with vertically elliptical pupil. They are non-venomous.Kelly, C.M.R., et al. Molecular systematics of the African snake family ''Lamprophiidae'', Fitzinger, 1843 (''Serpentes'': ''Elapoidea''), with particular focus on the genera ''Lamprophis'', Fitzinger 1843 and ''Mehelya'', Csiki 1903. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. (2010),

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014383 Lamprophiidae Monotypic snake genera Reptiles of South Africa Reptiles of Eswatini Reptiles described in 1970 Taxa named by William Roy Branch