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Atractaspis irregularis (REINHARDT, 1843)

IUCN Red List - Atractaspis irregularis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAtractaspididae (Atractaspidinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesAtractaspis irregularis angeli LAURENT 1950
Atractaspis irregularis bipostocularis BOULENGER 1905
Atractaspis irregularis irregularis (REINHARDT 1843)
Atractaspis irregularis parkeri LAURENT 1945
Atractaspis irregularis uelensis LAURENT 1945 
Common NamesE: Variable Burrowing Asp, Mole Viper 
SynonymElaps irregularis REINHARDT 1843
Atractaspis irregularis — PFEFFER 1893: 87f
Atractaspis irregularis — BOULENGER 1897: 280
Atractaspis bipostocularis BOULENGER 1905
Atractaspis conradsi STERNFELD 1908: 94
Atractaspis caudalis STERNFELD 1908: 94
Atractaspis babaulti ANGEL 1934: 169
Atractaspis conradsi — SCHMIDT 1943
Atractaspis schoutedeni WITTE
Atractaspis irregularis loveridgei LAURENT 1945:
Atractaspis irregularis conradsi — LAURENT 1945
Atractaspis irregularis loveridgei — LAURENT 1950: 21
Atractaspis irregularis conradsi — LAURENT 1950: 23
Atractaspis coalescens PERRET 1960 (fide CHIPPAUX 1999: 77)
Atractaspis irregularis irregularis — PERRET 1961
Atractaspis coalescens — WELCH 1994: 21
Atractaspis irregularis — CHIRIO & INEICH 2006
Atractaspis irregularis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 66
Atractaspis irregularis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 476
Atractaspis coalescens — CHIPPAUX & JACKSON 2019: 145
Atractaspis irregularis — CHIPPAUX & JACKSON 2019: 148
Atractaspis irregularis — SENTER & CHIPPAUX 2022

Atractaspis irregularis angeli LAURENT 1950: 25
Atractaspis irregularis — WELCH 1994: 23
Atractaspis irregularis angeli — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007

Atractaspis irregularis bipostocularis BOULENGER 1905
Atractaspis bipostocularis BOULENGER 1905
Atractaspis irregularis bipostocularis — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 23
Atractaspis irregularis bipostocularis — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007

Atractaspis irregularis parkeri LAURENT 1945: 316
Atractaspis irregularis parkeri — LAURENT 1950: 17
Atractaspis irregularis parkeri — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007

Atractaspis irregularis uelensis LAURENT 1945
Atractaspis irregularis — SCHMIDT 1923: 136 (fide LAURENT 1950)
Atractaspis irregularis uelensis — LAURENT 1950: 19
Atractaspis irregularis uelensis — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007 
DistributionGuinea (Conakry), Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo (Brazzaville), N Angola, Ethiopia (Mount Bizen), Eritrea, Kenya, NE Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gambia

angeli: Eritrea (Mount Bizen)

bipostocularis: Kenya, NE Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, NE Zaire; Type locality: Fort Hall, Kenya.

coalescens: Cameroon; Type locality: “Bangwa, Cameroun”

conradsi: Type locality: Ukerewe Island, Tanganyika Territory.

irregularis: Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, N Angola; Type locality: “Gabon”

parkeri: Congo

uelensis: NE Zaire, NW Uganda, S Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS)

Type locality: Accra, Guineaküste [caudalis]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMUC 6885
Holotype: MSNG, cat. no. unknown [angeli]
Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.23.79, juvenile [bipostocularis]
Holotype: ZMB: 6527 [caudalis]
Holotype: MHNG 975.65 (F) [coalescens]
Holotype: RMCA (= MRAC) (Musée du Congo), paratypes: MNHN [parkeri]
Holotype: IRSNB (Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle); paratypes: Musée du Congo Belge [uelensis]
Holotype: RMCA (= MRAC) (Musée du Congo) [loveridgei] 
Diagnosis 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: partly after Laurent 1945, VOGEL & DOBIEY 2007.

The description by SCHMIDT (1923) is available online (see URL below).

Distribution: Not recorded from Gabon fide PAUWELS & VANDE WEGHE 2008 but its presence is highly likely based on records in neighboring countries. Not in Benin fide ULLENBRUCH et al. 2010. Not in Equatorial Guinea fide SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022.

battersbyi: Probably occurs in the Congo. 
EtymologyNamed after James Clarence Battersby 1901-1993 [obituary in Herp. Rev. 25: 44 (1994)]. 
References
  • Angel, F. 1934. Description d’un Vipéridé Nouveau, du Congo belge, et de deux batraciens de Madagascar. Bull. Soc. Zool. France 58: 169-172
  • Barnett, Linda K. & Emms, Craig 2005. Common reptiles of The Gambia. Rare Repro, Hailsham, East Sussex, 24 pp.
  • Böhme, Wolfgang, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Christian Brede & Philipp Wagner 2011. The reptiles (Testudines, Squamata, Crocodylia) of the forested southeast of the Republic Guinea (Guinée forestière), with a country-wide checklist. Bonn zoological Bulletin 60 (1): 35-61 - get paper here
  • Böhme,W. 1975. Zur Herpetofaunistik Kameruns, mit Beschreibung einens neuen Scinciden. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 26 (1-3): 2-48 - 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
  • Boulenger,G.A. 1905. Description of a new snake of the genus Atractaspis from Mount Kenya, British East Africa. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (7) 15: 190 - get paper here
  • Bourgeois,M. 1963. Note sur Atractaspis irregularis conradsi STERNFELD (Viperidae). structure du crâne et l’appareil de la morusre. Ann. Soc. Zool. Belg. 93: 159-169
  • 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. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
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  • Laurent, R.F. 1945. Contribution a la connaissance du Genre Atractaspis A. Smith. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 38: 312-343
  • Laurent, R.F. 1950. Revision du genre Atractaspis A. SMITH. Mem. Inst. Roy. nat. Belg. (2) 38: 1-49
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  • Perret, J. L. 1960. Une nouvelle et remarquable espèce d'Atractaspis (Viperidae) et quelques autres Serpents d'Afrique. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 67 (1): 129-139 - get paper here
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  • Pitman,C.R.S. 1974. A guide to the snakes of Uganda. Codicote, Wheldon & Wesley, L., 290 pp.
  • Rasmussen, J.B. & B. Hughes 1996. Description of some new snake species. I. [English translation of the original Danish text of T. Reinhardt 1843]. Steenstrupia 22: 13-39
  • Reinhardt, J. T. 1843. Beskrivelse af nogle nye Slangearter. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Afhandl. 10: 233-279. - get paper here
  • Rödel M, Kucharzewski C, Mahlow K, Chirio L, Pauwels OSG, Carlino P, Sambolah G, Glos J 2019. A new stiletto snake (Lamprophiidae, Atractaspidinae, Atractaspis) from Liberia and Guinea, West Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 95(1): 107-123 - 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
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  • Segniagbeto, G.H.; Dekawole, J.K.; Ketoh, G.K.; Dendi, D.; Luiselli, L. 2022. Herpetofaunal Diversity in a Dahomey Gap Savannah of Togo (West Africa): Effects of Seasons on the Populations of Amphibians and Reptiles. Diversity 14: 964
  • Senter, P. J., & Chippaux, J. P. 2022. Biogeography of snakes in Liberia: Review and synthesis of current knowledge. Ghana Journal of Science, 63(1), 29-62 - get paper here
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