Polemon barthii
| Polemon barthii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Atractaspididae |
| Genus: | Polemon |
| Species: | P. barthii |
| Binomial name | |
| Polemon barthii Jan, 1858 | |
Polemon barthii, or the Guinea snake-eater, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake in the Atractaspididae family.[1] It is endemic to Africa.[2]
Etymology
The specific name, barthii, is in honor of German explorer Heinrich Barth.[3]
Geographic range
It is found in Cameroon, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.[4]
Description
Dorsally, Polemon barthii is olive-gray, the dorsal scales edged with black. The back of the head is yellowish white. Ventrally it is yellowish white.
Adults may attain a total length of 81 cm (31 7⁄8 in), with a tail 4 cm (1 1⁄2 in) long.
Dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 15 rows at midbody. Ventrals 221-226; anal plate entire; subcaudals 16-18, also entire.
Diameter of eye ⅓ to ½ its distance from the mouth. Rostral wider than high, barely visible from above. Internasals as long as or slightly shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal slightly broader than the supraocular, 1⅓ to 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, much shorter than the parietals. One preocular, in contact with the nasal. One or two postoculars. Temporals 1+1. Seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye. Four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. First lower labial forming a suture with its fellow behind the mental. Two pairs of chin shields, the anterior pair longer than the posterior pair.[5]
References
- ↑ "Polemon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
- ↑ Polemon at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 5 May 2009.
- ↑ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Polemon barthii, p. 18).
- ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I- XXV. (Polemon barthii, p. 254).
Further reading
- Jan G. 1858. "Plan d'une iconographie descriptive des ophidiens et description sommaire de nouvelles espèces des serpentes". Rev. Mag. Zool. Paris, Series 2, 10: 438-449, 514-527.