Elapsoidea guentherii

Elapsoidea guentherii, also known commonly as Günther's garter snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae.[2] The species is native to Central Africa.[2]

Elapsoidea guentherii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Elapsoidea
Species:
E. guentherii
Binomial name
Elapsoidea guentherii
Bocage, 1866
Synonyms[2]
  • Elapsoidea Guntherii
    Bocage, 1866
  • Elapsoidea hessei
    Boettger, 1887
  • Elapsoidea guentheri
    Günther, 1895
  • Elapechis guentheri
    Boulenger, 1896
  • Elapsoidea sundevallii güntherii
    Loveridge, 1944
  • Elapsoidea guentherii
    Welch, 1994

Etymology

The specific name, guentherii, is in honor of German-British herpetologist Albert Günther.[3]

Geographic range

E. guentherii is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of E. guentherii is savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft).[1]

Description

E. guentherii exhibits sexual dimorphism with males being significantly larger than females. Males may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 56 cm (22 in), but females only grow to 38.5 cm (15.2 in) SVL. Juveniles have a dorsal color pattern of alternating black and white crossbands of equal width. The pattern fades as the snakes mature, with adults becoming uniformly grayish black dorsally, and lighter gray ventrally.[4]

Venom

E. guentherii is venomous, but no human fatalities have been reported.[2][4]

Diet

E. guentherii preys predominately upon reptiles such as lizards and snakes, but it will also eat amphibians and termites.[4]

Reproduction

E. guentherii is oviparous.[1][2] In late summer an adult female may lay a clutch of as many as ten eggs.[4]

References

  1. Verburgt, L.; Pietersen, D.; Farooq, H.; Chapeta, Y. (2020). "Elapsoidea guentherii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T13265832A13265836. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T13265832A13265836.en. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  2. "Elapsoidea guentherii ". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  3. 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. (Elapsoidea guntheri, p. 110).
  4. 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. (Elapsoidea guentheri, p. 105 + Plate 21).

Further reading

  • Bocage JVB (1866). "Lista dos reptis dos possessões portuguezas d'Africa occidental que existem no Museo de Lisboa ". Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas Physicas e Naturaes da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa 1: 37–56. (Elapsoidea Guntherii, new species, pp. 50-51). (in Portuguese).
  • Chippaux J-P, Jackson K (2019). Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 448 pp. ISBN 978-1421427195.
  • Conradie, Werner; Baptista, Ninda L.; Verburgt, Luke; Keates, Chad; Harvey, James; Júlio, Timóteo; Neef, Götz (2021). "Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes)". Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 15 (2): 244–278. (in English, with an abstract in Portuguese).
  • Pietersen, Darren W.; Verburgt, Luke; Davies, John P. (2021). Snakes and other Reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Cape Town: Penguin Random House South Africa. 376 pp. ISBN 978-1775847373.



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