| Xenocalamus mechowii | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Atractaspididae |
| Genus: | Xenocalamus |
| Species: | X. mechowii |
| Binomial name | |
| Xenocalamus mechowii W. Peters, 1881 | |
Xenocalamus mechowii, or the elongate quill-snouted snake, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the subfamily Aparallactinae of the family Atractaspididae.[1] The species is endemic to Africa.[2]
Etymology
The specific name or epithet, mechowii, is in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow, a Silesian-German explorer of Africa.[3]
Geographic range
X. mechowii is found in Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[2]
Habitat
Description
Dorsally, X. mechowii is yellowish with brown spots, some spots arranged in alternating confluent pairs, others forming crossbands. The upper lip, sides of the body, and venter are unspotted.[5]
A subadult 22.5 cm (8+3⁄4 in) in total length has a tail 3.5 cm (1+3⁄8 in) long.[5]
The species exhibits sexual dimorphism. Adult males may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 58 cm (23 in). Females are larger, and may attain 80 cm (31 in) SVL.[4]
The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 17 rows. The ventrals number 229-239. The anal plate is divided, and the subcaudals which number 31-36 are also divided.[5]
The head scalation is the same as Xenocalamus bicolor, except there are no supraoculars and two postoculars.[5]
The snout is very depressed and very prominent.[4]
Diet
X. mechowii preys on amphisbaenians, which it finds by burrowing.[4]
Reproduction
X. mechowii is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of as many as four eggs.[4]
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized including the nominate race.
- Xenocalamus mechowii inornatus de Witte & Laurent, 1947
- Xenocalamus mechowii mechowii W. Peters, 1881[2]
Intergrades of these two subspecies can be found in North-Western Province, Zambia.[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ "Xenocalamus ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- 1 2 3 Xenocalamus mechowii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 May 2009.
- ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Xenocalamus mechowi, p. 174).
- 1 2 3 4 5 Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Xenocalamus mechowii, p. 69).
- 1 2 3 4 Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. ("Xenocalamus mechovii [sic]", p. 248).
- ↑ Broadley DG (1971). "A revision of the African snake genera Amblyodipsas and Xenocalamus ". Occ. Pap. Natl. Mus. Rhodesia B4 (33): 629-697.
References
- Peters WCH (1881). "Zwei neue von Herrn Major von Mechow während seiner letzten Expedition nach West-Afrika entdeckte Schlangen und eine Übersicht der von ihn mitgebrachten herpetologischen Sammlung ". Sitzunsber. Ges. naturf. Freunde Berlin 1881 (9): 147-150. (Xenocalamus mechowii, new species, p. 147). (in German).
- de Witte GF, Laurent RF (1947). "Revision d'un groupe de Colubridae africains: genres Calamelaps, Miodon, Aparallactus, et formes affines ". Mém. Mus. Roy. Hist. Nat. Belgique (sér. 2) 29: 1-134. (Xenocalamus mechowii inornatus, new subspecies, p. 51). (in French).