You are here » home › advanced search › Atheris anisolepis

Atheris anisolepis MOCQUARD, 1887

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Atheris anisolepis?

Add your own observation of
Atheris anisolepis »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaViperidae, Viperinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mayombe Bush-Viper 
SynonymAtheris anisolepis MOCQUARD 1887: 89
Atheris laeviceps BOETTGER 1887: 651
Atheris laeviceps — SCHMIDT 1923: 145
Atheris squamigera anisolepis — BOGERT 1940
Atheris laeviceps — TRAPE & ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995: 45
Atheris anisolepis — BROADLEY 1998: 128
Atheris anisolepis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 60
Atheris laeviceps — TRAPE 2023: 254 
DistributionS Gabon, S Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), W Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Type locality: Alima [River], Leketi, Congo.  
Reproductionviviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022). Juveniles are usually found in July-August. Gestation is ca. 7 months. 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 1886.0242; paralectotype: MNHN-RA 1886.0243 (Leketi), MNHN-RA 1886.0368 (Franceville, Gabon) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3205 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Subspecies and synonymy: The name was placed in the synonymy of A. squamigera by Boulenger(1896), but was revived as a subspecies by Bogert(1940) and again removed from synonymy with A. squamigera by BROADLEY 1998 but then again synonymized by LAWSON & USTACH (2000). Collet & Trape 2020 discuss the possibility that Atheris laeviceps BOETTGER 1887 may have priority over Atheris anisolepis MOCQUARD 1887.

Distribution: Not in Angola fide Marques et al. 2018. The type locality was originally given as “near the river Gabon, Guinea”.

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Diet: frogs, lizards, small mammals, possibly newly hatched birds. 
References
  • Boettger, OSKAR 1887. Diagnoses reptilium novorum ad ilI. viro Paul Hesse in finnibus fluminis Congo repetorum. Zool. Anz. 10 (267): 649-651 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1897. A list of reptiles and batrachians from the Congo Free State, with the description of two new snakes. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 19: 276-281 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1996. A review of the tribe Atherini (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the descriptions of two new genera. African Journal of Herpetology 45: 40-48. - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. A review of the genus Atheris Cope (Serpentes: Viperidae), with the description of a new species from Uganda. The Herpetological Journal 8: 117-135. - get paper here
  • Burger, M.; Branch, W.R. & Channing, A. 2004. Amphibians and Reptiles of Monts Doudou, Gabon: Species Turnover Along an Elevational Gradient. California Academy of Sciences Memoir 28: 145–186
  • Chifundera, K. 1990. Snakes of Zaire and their bites. Afr. Stud. Monogr. (Kyoto) 10(3): 137-157.
  • Chippaux, Jean-Philippe & Kate Jackson 2019. Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Johns Hopkins University Press, 448 pp. [detaileld review in HR 51 (1): 161] - get paper here
  • Chirio, L. & Lebreton, M. 2007. Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. MNHN, IRD, Paris 688 pp.
  • COLLET, Marcel & Jean-Francois TRAPE 2020. Une nouvelle espèce du genre Atheris Cope, 1862, de la province de l’Équateur en République Démocratique du Congo (Squamata: Viperidae). Bull. Soc. Herp. France 173: 27-40 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1860. Catalogue of the venomous serpents in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with notes on the families, genera and species. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1859: 332-347 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1862. Notes upon some reptiles of the Old World. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 14: 337-344 - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. 2007. Atheris squamigera. Reptilia (Münster) 12 (68): 51-54 - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • Ernst, R. & Rödel, M. O. 2002. A new Atheris species (Serpentes: Viperidae), from Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. The Herpetological Journal 12: 55-61 - get paper here
  • Fischer, J. G. 1888. Über zwei neue Schlangen und einen neuen Laubfrosch von Kamerun. Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst. 5: 1-10 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1896. Report on a collection of reptiles and fishes made by Miss M. H. Kingsley during her travels on the Ogowe river and in Old Calabar. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 17: 261-267 - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1863. On Atheris Burtonii, a new snake from West Africa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 12: 239 - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1863. On new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 11: 20-25 - get paper here
  • Gutsche, A. 2014. Schlange, Spinne & Co. Der Reptilienzoo Happ in Klagenfurt. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (106): 64-68
  • Hallowell,E. 1854. Descriptions of new reptiles from Guinea. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1854: 193-194 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H. W.; Joger, U.; Lenk, P. & Wink, M. 1999. Morphological and molecular phylogenies of viperines: conflicting evidence? Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 21-30 - get paper here
  • Hoer, K. 2013. 27 Jahre Terrarianer – eine Zeitreise. Ophidia 7 (1): 25-33 - get paper here
  • Joger,U. & Courage,K. 1999. Are palearctic ‘rattlesnakes’ (Echis and Cerastes) monophyletic? Kaupia (Darmstadt) (8): 65-81
  • Kielgast, J. 2011. Atheris squamigera (Hallowell, 1854). Elaphe 19 (3): 64
  • Laita, Mark 2013. Serpentine. Abrams and PQ Blackwell, Auckland, New Zealand, 200 unnumbered pages
  • Laurent, R.F. 1956. Contribution à l'herpetologie de la région des Grandes Lacs de l'Afrique centrale. Ann. Mus. Roy. Congo Belge (Sci. Zool.), 48: 1-390
  • LAWSON, D. P., B. P. NOONAN & P. C. USTACH 2001. Atheris subocularis (Serpentes: Viperidae) revisited: molecular and morphological evidence for the resurrection of an enigmatic taxon. Copeia 2001 (3): 737-744 - get paper here
  • Lawson,D.P. & Ustach,P.C. 2000. A redescription of Atheris squamigera (Serpentes: Viperidae) with comments on the validity of Atheris anisolepis. Journal of Herpetology 34 (3): 386-389 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, Arthur 1929. East African reptiles and amphibians in the United States National Museum. Bull. US Natl. Mus. (151): 1-135 - get paper here
  • Loveridge,A. 1933. Reports on the scientific Results of an Expedition to the Southwestem Highlands of Tanganyika Territory. VII. Herpetology. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 74: 197-415 - get paper here
  • Mallow, D. Ludwig, D. & Nilson, G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Krieger, Malabar, Florida, 410 pp. [review in HR 35: 200, Reptilia 35: 74]
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Menegon, M.; Loader, S.P.; Marsden, S.J.; Branch, W.R.; Davenport, T.R.B. & Ursenbacher, S. 2014. The genus Atheris (Serpentes: Viperidae) in East Africa: Phylogeny and the role of rifting and climate in shaping the current pattern of species diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 79: 12-22 - get paper here
  • Mocquard,M.F. 1887. Sur les ophidiens rapportés du Congo par la Mission de Brazza. Bull. Soc. Philomath. Paris (7) 11: 62-92 - get paper here
  • Ota, H. & Hikida, T. 1987. On a small collection of lizards and snakes from Cameroon, West Africa. African Study Monographs 8 (2): 111-123 - get paper here
  • Pauwels, O.S.G. & Vande Weghe, J.P. 2008. Les reptiles du Gabon. Smithsonian Institution, Washington: 272 pp. - get paper here
  • Pauwels, O.S.G.; Kamdem Toham, A. & Chimsunchart, C. 2002. Recherches sur l’herpétofaune du Massif du Chaillu, Gabon. Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique (Biologie) 72: 47-57 - get paper here
  • Perret, J.L. 1961. Études herpétologiques africaines III. 1. La faune ophidienne de la région camerounaise. Bull. Soc. neuchâtel. Sci. nat., 84: 133-138
  • Phelps, T. 2010. Old World Vipers. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 558 pp. [critical review in Sauria 33 (3): 19 and HR 43: 503]
  • Pitman,C.R.S. 1974. A guide to the snakes of Uganda. Codicote, Wheldon & Wesley, L., 290 pp.
  • Rochebrune, A. T. de 1885. Vertebratonum novorum vel minus cognitorum orae Africae occidentalis in colarum. Bull. Soc. philom. Paris 9: 86-99 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, K. P. 1923. Contributions to the herpetology of the Belgian Congo based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition, 1909-1915. Part II. Snakes, with field notes by Herbert Lang and James P. Chapin. Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist. 49 (1): 1-146 - get paper here
  • Segniagbeto GLazcano. H., Trape J. F., David P., Ohler A., Dubois A. & Glitho I. A. 2011. The snake fauna of Togo: systematics, distribution and biogeography, with remarks on selected taxonomic problems. Zoosystema 33 (3): 325-360. DOI: 10.5252/z2011n3a4 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Trape, J.-F. 2023. Guide des serpents d’Afrique occidentale, centrale et d’Afrique du Nord. IRD Éditions, Marseille, 896 pp.
  • Trape, J.F. & R. ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995. Les serpents du Congo: liste commentée et clé de détermination. Journal of African Zoology 109 (1): 31-50
  • 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.
  • Wirth, M. 2011. TERRARIENSCHAUANLAGEN Das Paradies der Ungeliebten – der Reptilienzoo Scheidegg. Reptilia (Münster) 16 (88): 80 - get paper here
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator