Atractaspis

Atractaspis
Atractaspis engaddensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Atractaspididae
Subfamily: Atractaspidinae
Genus: Atractaspis
A. Smith, 1849
Common names: burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers,[1] more.

Atractaspis is a genus of venomous snakes in the family Atractaspidae, also known as the stiletto snakes. The genus is endemic to Africa and the Middle East. The genus contains 15 species that are recognized by ITIS.[2] Others recognize as many as 21 species.[3][4][5] 23 are listed here.

Common names

Common names for snakes of the genus Atractaspis include burrowing vipers, burrowing asps, mole vipers, stiletto snakes, side-stabbing snakes, side-stabbers. "Side stabbing" refers to the snakes' uncommon ability to strike with the side of their head and inject venom with one protruding fang.[1]

Geographic range

Species of the genus Atractaspis are found mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a limited distribution in the Jordan valley in Israel, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula.[1]

Description

Members of the genus Atractaspis share the following characteristics. Venom fangs enormously developed; a few teeth on the palatines, none on the pterygoids; mandibles edentulous anteriorly, with 2 or 3 very small teeth in the middle of the dentary bone. Postfrontal bone absent. Head small, not distinct from neck, covered with large symmetrical shields; nostril between 2 nasals; no loreal; eye minute, with round pupil. Body cylindrical; dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, in 17 to 37 rows; ventrals rounded. Tail short; subcaudals either single or in two rows.[6]

Species

Species[2][4] Taxon author*[2][4] Subspecies**[2] Common name[1] Geographic range[4][1]
A. andersonii Boulenger, 1905 Oman, Yemen
A. aterrima Günther, 1863 ———— slender burrowing asp Africa: from Senegal and the Gambia east to DR Congo and Uganda.
A. battersbyi de Witte, 1959 ———— Battersby's burrowing asp Africa: Bolobo, on the Congo River basin, DR Congo.
A. bibronii A. Smith, 1849 bibronii

rostrata

Bibron's burrowing asp Southern Africa, from central Namibia, east to northern South Africa, north to south-eastern DR Congo, eastern Tanzania, coastal Kenya, and extreme southern coastal Somalia.
A. boulengeri Mocquard, 1897 matschiensis
mixta
schmidti
schultzei
vanderborghti 		Central African burrowing asp Africa: the forests of the western Congo River basin.
A. branchi Rödel et al., 2019 Branch's stiletto snake Africa: from Liberia to Guinea
A. congica W. Peters, 1877 leleupi
orientalis 		Congo burrowing asp Africa: from the mouth of the Congo River south to Angola, south-eastern DR Congo and northern Zambia.
A. corpulenta (Hallowell, 1854) kivuensis
leucura 		fat burrowing asp Africa: from Liberia to Ghana and from Nigeria eastwards to north-eastern DR Congo.
A. dahomeyensis Bocage, 1887 ———— Dahomey burrowing asp Africa: from southwestern Cameroon, north and west through Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, north-western Ivory Coast, south-western Burkina Faso and south-central Mali.
A. duerdeni Gough, 1907 ———— Duerden's burrowing asp Africa in two isolated populations: one in north-central Namibia and one in south-eastern Botswana and northern South Africa.
A. engaddensis Haas, 1950 En-Gedi asp, alasawad alkhabith Asia: Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon
A. engdahli Lönnberg & Andersson, 1913 ———— Engdahl's burrowing asp Africa: southern Somalia and the lower Juba Valley northwest into northeastern Kenya.
A. fallax W. Peters, 1867 ———— Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia
A. irregularis (J.T. Reinhardt, 1843) angeli
bipostocularis
conradsi
parkeri
uelensis 		variable burrowing asp Africa: from Liberia to Ghana, from Nigeria east to Uganda, southern Sudan, and western and central Kenya, and south to north-eastern Tanzania, DR Congo and north-western Angola.
A. leucomelas Boulenger, 1895 ———— Ogaden burrowing asp Africa: eastern Ethiopia, northwestern Somalia and Djibouti.
A. magrettii Scortecci, 1928 western Eritrea, northwestern Ethiopia, south-eastern Sudan
A. microlepidota Günther, 1866 small-scaled burrowing asp Africa: Senegal, Gambia, southern Mauritania, and western Mali
A. micropholis Günther, 1872 Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria
A. phillipsi Barbour, 1913 south-eastern Sudan
A. reticulata Sjöstedt, 1896 brieni
heterochilus 		reticulate burrowing asp Central Africa: from southern Cameroon, east to eastern DR Congo and south to Angola.
A. scorteccii Parker, 1949 ———— Somali burrowing asp Africa: eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia.
A. watsoni Boulenger, 1908 Watson' s

Burrowing Asp

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal

*) A taxon author in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Atractaspis.
 **) Not including the nominate subspecies.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Spawls S, Branch B (1995). The Dangerous Snakes of Africa: Natural History, Species Directory, Venoms and Snakebite. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. ISBN 0-88359-029-8.
  2. ^ a b c d "Atractaspis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  3. ^ "Atractaspis ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/Serpentes/colubroidea/lamprophiidae/Atractaspidinae.
  4. ^ a b c d Genus Atractaspis at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ^ "Atractaspis ". Wikispecies.
  6. ^ Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III., Containing the ... Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Genus Atractaspis, pp. 510-511, Figure 36).

Further reading

  • 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. (Genus Atractaspis, pp. 61–62).
  • Smith A (1849). Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa; Consisting Chiefly of Figures and Descriptions of the Objects of Natural History Collected during an Expedition into the Interior of South Africa, in the Years 1834, 1835, and 1836; Fitted out by "The Cape of Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa:" Together with a Summary of African Zoology, and an Inquiry into the Geographical Ranges of Species in that Quarter of the Globe. [Volume III. Reptilia]. London: Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury. (Smith, Elder and Co., printers). 78 plates + unnumbered pages of text. (Atractaspis, new genus. Plate 71).
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