The preferred natural habitats of M. vaillanti are shrubland and savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 1,800 m (5,900 ft).[1]
Description
M. vaillanti is brown dorsally, with the center of each dorsal scale grayish white. The ventrals are brown in the middle, and whitish on the sides.
Adults may attain a total length of 28.2 cm (11 in), with a tail 32 mm (1+1⁄4 in) long.
The dorsal scales are smooth, without pits, and are arranged in 15 rows at midbody (in 17 rows on the neck). The ventrals number 171–203. The anal plate is divided, and the subcaudals are also divided.
The head is very flattened. The rostral is large, twice as broad as deep, the portion visible from above about ⅔ as long as its distance from the frontal. The internasals are twice as broad as long, and twice as long as the prefrontals. The frontal is small, 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, much shorter than the parietals. The supraocular is as long as broad. There is one very small postocular. The temporals are arranged 1+1. There are seven upper labials, the third in contact with the prefrontal, the third and fourth (or third, fourth, and fifth) entering the eye. There are four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. The two pairs of chin shields (anterior and posterior) are subequal in size.[5]
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Micrelaps vaillanti, p. 271).
^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. (Micrelaps vaillanti, new combination, p. 249).
Further reading
Mocquard F (1888). "Sur une collection de reptiles et de batraciens rapportés des pays somalis et de Zanzibar par M [onsieur]. G. Révoil ". Mémoires Publiés par la Société Philomatique à l'occasion du Centenaire de sa fondation 1788-1888, Paris. pp. 109–134. (Elaposchema vaillanti, new species, p. 123 + Plate XII, figure 1). (in French).
Largen M, Spawls S (2010). Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Frankfurt am Main: Edition Chimaira / Serpents Tale. 694 pp. ISBN978-3899734669. (Micrelaps vaillanti, p. 586).
Spawls S, Howell K, Hinkel H, Menegon M (2018). Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury Natural History. 624 pp. ISBN978-1472935618. (Micrelaps vaillanti, p. 459).
