Polemon collaris

Polemon collaris, or the collared snake-eater, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae.[3] It is endemic to Africa.[4]

    Polemon collaris
    Scientific classification
    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
    Class: Reptilia
    Order: Squamata
    Suborder: Serpentes
    Family: Lamprophiidae
    Genus: Polemon
    Species:
    P. collaris
    Binomial name
    Polemon collaris
    (Peters, 1881)
    Synonyms

    Geographic range

    It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda.[2]

    Description

    Polemon collaris is blackish dorsally down to the outer ends of the ventrals and subcaudals. The head and the nape of the neck are pale brown, with some black blotches on the crown and below the eye. Ventrally it is white. The entire terminal caudal shield is white.

    Adults are about 55 cm (21 5⁄8 in) in total length, which includes a tail about 32 mm (1 1⁄4 in) long.

    Dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 15 rows. Ventrals 201-208; anal plate divided; subcaudals 16-22, also divided.

    Diameter of eye about three fifths its distance from the mouth. Rostral broader than high, barely visible from above. Internasals considerably shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal slightly broader than the supraocular, 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, much shorter than the parietals. Nasal divided, in contact with the preocular. Usually two postoculars. Temporals 1+1 or 1+2. Seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye. First lower labial forming a suture with its fellow behind the mental. Four or five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. Two pairs of chin shields, the anterior pair longer than the posterior pair.[5]

    Subspecies

    Three subspecies are recognized including the nominate race.

    Footnotes
    1. Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. Trustees of the British Museum. London. p. 251.
    2. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
    3. "Polemon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
    4. Polemon at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 5 May 2009.
    5. Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. Trustees of the British Museum. London. pp. 249-251.

    References
    • Peters, W. 1881. Ueber zwei neue von v. Mechow gesammelte Schlangen nebst einer Uebersicht der von ihn mitgebrachten herpetologischen Sammlung. Sitzungs-Berichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 9:147-150.
    • de Witte, G.F. & R.F. Laurent. 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.


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