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Amblyodipsas polylepis

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Species of snake

Amblyodipsas polylepis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Atractaspididae
Genus: Amblyodipsas
Species: A. polylepis
Binomial name
Amblyodipsas polylepis
(Bocage, 1873)
Synonyms
  • Calamelaps polylepis Bocage, 1873

Amblyodipsas polylepis, or the common purple-glossed snake, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the Atractaspididae family.

Geographic range

It is endemic to the eastern and northern regions of southern Africa. More specifically, it is found in Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Republic of South Africa, Tanzania, coastal Kenya, and Somalia.

Description

Dorsal scales smooth, without pits, arranged in 21 rows, which is more than any other species of Amblyodipsas as the specific epithet, polylepis, implies. Ventrals 163–212; anal divided; subcaudals 16–27, divided. In every other respect scalation is like Amblyodipsas unicolor.

Completely blackish brown. Total length 40 cm (15+3⁄4 in); tail 23 mm (7⁄8 in).

Diet

Eating an amphisbaenian

This species has been recorded to prey upon Monopeltis luandae, as well as other genera of Amphisbaenidae such as Zygaspis.

References

Notes
  1. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Schmidt, Warren. 2006. Reptiles and Amphibians of Southern Africa. Struik. Cape Town. p. 19.
  3. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  4. Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. London. pp. 245-246.
  5. Conradie, Werner; Pinto, Pedro Vaz (2021-01-27). "(PDF) A snake with an appetite for the rare: Amblyodipsas polylepis (Bocage, 1873) feeding on the amphisbaenid Monopeltis luandae Gans, 1976". Herpetology Notes. 14: 205–207. ISSN 2071-5773. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
Bibliography
  • Bocage, J.V.B. 1873. Melanges herpétologiques. II. Sur quelques reptiles et batraciens nouveaux, rares ou peu connus d'Afrique occidentale. Journ. Acad. Sci. Lisboa 4:209-227.
Taxon identifiers
Amblyodipsas polylepis
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