You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Prosymna pitmani

Prosymna pitmani BATTERSBY, 1951

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Prosymna pitmani?

Add your own observation of
Prosymna pitmani »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaProsymnidae, Elapoidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Pitman's Shovelsnout Snake, Multi-scaled Shovel-snout 
SynonymProsymna pitmani BATTERSBY 1951: 828
Prosymna pitmani — LOVERIDGE 1958: 167
Prosymna pitmani (incertae sedis) — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 29
Prosymna pitmani — WALLACH et al. 2014: 581
Prosymna pitmani — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 423 
DistributionSE Tanzania south to S Malawi.

Type locality: Kilwa district, Southern Region, Tanzania (restricted to Nanguale by LOVERIDGE 1958).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1950.1.3.96-97, Type and Paratype, 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1202 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentProsymna pitmani is distinguished from all other members of the genus by its 19-21 midbody scale-rows [LOVERIDGE 1958].

Diet: reptile eggs 
EtymologyNamed after Lieutenant Colonel Charles Robert Senhouse Pitman (1890-1975), an ornithologist and a herpetologist. He was an officer in the Indian army (1909-1921), serving with distinction in WWI in France, Egypt, Mesopotamia (now Iraq), and Palestine. See Broadley 1975 for an obituary. 
References
  • Battersby, J. C. 1951. Description of a new species of snake Prosymna pitmani, sp. n., from Tanganyika Territory and notes on the genus. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (12) 4: 828-829 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. 1975. Obituaries on African Herpetologists- Pitman, C. R. S. 1889 - 1975. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (14): 36-38 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1979. Predation on Reptile Eggs by African Snakes of the Genus Prosymna. Herpetologica 35 (4): 338-341 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1957. On a third collection of reptiles taken in Tanganyika by C.J.P. Ionides, Esq. Tanganyika Notes and Records 43: 1-19
  • Loveridge,A. 1958. Revision of five african snake genera. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 119: 1-198 (141) - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator