Micrelaps boettgeri, commonly known as Boettger's two-headed snake, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae.[1] The species is endemic to Africa.[2]
| Micrelaps boettgeri | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Micrelapidae |
| Genus: | Micrelaps |
| Species: | M. boettgeri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Micrelaps boettgeri Boulenger, 1896
| |
Etymology
editThe specific name, boettgeri, is in honor of German herpetologist Oskar Boettger, author of the genus Micrelaps.[3]
Geographic range
editBoettger's two-headed snake is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda.[4]
Description
editDorsally, M. boettgeri is blackish brown, with each scale having a terminal round white spot. The head's upper surface and the neck's nape are black. The ventrals are edged with white.
The type specimen, a female, is 23.5 cm (9+1⁄4 in) in total length, including the tail which is 2 cm (3⁄4 in) long.
The dorsal scales are smooth, in 15 rows at the midbody (in 17 rows on the neck). The ventrals number 203-221; the anal plate is divided; the subcaudals number 22–23, also divided (in two rows).
The portion of the rostral visible from above is as long as its distance from the frontal. The internasals are slightly broader than long, shorter than the prefrontals. The frontal is small, 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, much shorter than the parietals. There is one postocular. The temporals are arranged 1+1. There are seven upper labials, the third and fourth entering the eye, the fifth forming a suture with the parietal. There are four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. There are two pairs of chin shields, the anterior pair and the posterior pair subequal in size.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Micrelaps ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
- ^ Genus Micrelaps at The Reptile Database. Accessed 17 August 2007.
- ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Micrelaps boettgeri, p. 29).
- ^ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Boulenger GA (1896). "A list of the reptiles and batrachians collected by the late Prince Eugenio Ruspoli in Somaliland and Gallaland in 1893". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Giacomo Doria, Series 2, 17: 5-14. (Micrelaps boettgeri, new species, p. 13).
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