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Boaedon capensis DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL, 1854

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Higher TaxaLamprophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common House Snake, Brown House Snake 
SynonymBoaedon capense DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 364
Lamprophis capensis — HUGHES 1997
Lamprophis capensis — BROADLEY 2003
Lamprophis capensis — MARAIS 2004
Lamprophis capensis — MALONZA et al. 2006
Lamprophis capensis — JACOBSEN et al. 2010
Boaedon capensis — PIETERSEN et al. 2013
Boaedon capensis — BROADLEY & BLAYLOCK 2013
Boaedon capensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 94
Boaedon capensis — TIUTENKO et al. 2022 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana

Type locality: "environs du Cap" [= vicinity of Cape of Good Hope, Western Cape Prov., SW South Africa, ca. 34°21'S, 18°28'E, elevation 20 m].  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesSyntypes: MNHN-RA (A. Smith, 1828-1837) but not located (I. Ineich, March 2019) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (659 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: The populations from Southern Africa of Lamprophis formerly regarded as L. lineatus or L. fuliginosus are regarded by Broadley et al (2003) and Johan Marais (2004) as Lamprophis capensis. Hughes 1997 also reported capensis from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Synonymy: B. quadrilineatum variegatum from Mozambique is a nomen nudum and belongs to the B. capensis complex (Wallach et al. 2014, Trape et al. 2022). 
References
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Broadley, D. & Blaylock 2013. The Snakes of Zimbabwe and Botswana. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 387 pp. [book review in Sauria 35 (2): 59 and Copeia 2014: 388] - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G.; Doria, C.T. & Wigge, J. 2003. Snakes of Zambia. An Atlas and Field Guide. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 280 pp. [review in Sauria 26 (3): 21]
  • Buruwate, T. C., & Lloyd-Jones, D. J. 2024. Amphibian and Reptile Diversity of Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique. Journal of East African Natural History, 113(1), 1-18 - get paper here
  • Conradie, Werner; Brian Reeves , Neil Brown, & Jan A. Venter 2016. Herpetofauna of the Oviston, Commando Drift and Tsolwana nature reserves in the arid interior of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Indago 32: 81-98 - get paper here
  • Conradie, Werner; Gabriela B. Bittencourt-Silva, Hanlie M. Engelbrecht, Simon P. Loader, Michele Menegon, Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo, Michael Scott, Krystal A. Tolley 2016. Exploration into the hidden world of Mozambique’s sky island forests: new discoveries of reptiles and amphibians. Zoosyst. Evol. 92 (2): 163–180, DOI 10.3897/zse.92.9948 - get paper here
  • Dennison, R. 2018. Farbmorphen bei Hausschlangen. Reptilia 23 (129): 38-41
  • Duméril, A.M.C., G. BIBRON & A.H.A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 7 (partie 1). Paris, xvi + 780 S. - get paper here
  • Durso, A M & Walther, E; 2019. Boaedon capensis (African House Snake) Reproduction and mating. Herpetological Review 50 (3): 584-585 - get paper here
  • Greenbaum, Eli; Frank Portillo, Kate Jackson & Chifundera Kusamba 2015. A phylogeny of Central African Boaedon (Serpentes: Lamprophiidae), with the description of a new cryptic species from the Albertine Rift. African Journal of Herpetology 64 (1): 18–38 - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. 1997. Dasypeltis scabra and Lamprophis fuliginosus - two pan-African snakes in the Horn of Africa: A tribute to Don Broadley. African Journal of Herpetology 46 (2): 68-77 - get paper here
  • HUGHES, B. 2018. THE SNAKES OF DODOMA. African Herp News (67): 8 - get paper here
  • Jacobsen, Niels H.G.; Errol W. Pietersen & Darren W. Pietersen 2010. A preliminary herpetological survey of the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula, Vilankulo, Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 3: 181-193
  • Jordaan, P.R., Steyl, J.C.A., Hanekom, C.C., Xander Combrink 2020. Fire-associated reptile mortality in Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa. Fire Ecol (2020) 16: 3 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; Victor D. Wasonga, Vincent Muchai , Damaris Rotich, Beryl A. Bwong; A.M. Bauer 2006. DIVERSITY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF HERPETOFAUNA OF THE TANA RIVER PRIMATE NATIONAL RESERVE, KENYA. Journal of East African Natural History 95(2): 95–109 - get paper here
  • Marais, J. 2004. A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa, 2nd ed. Struik Publishers, 312 pp.
  • Maritz RA, Maritz B. 2020. Sharing for science: high-resolution trophic interactions revealed rapidly by social media. PeerJ 8:e9485 - get paper here
  • Miguel, A. R., Kaiser, H., Vargas, N. D., & Borges-Martins, M. 2024. Diversity and natural history of reptiles from coastal environments in Gilé National Park, northern Mozambique. Herpetology Notes, 17, 173-199
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren W. Pietersen, Errol W. Haacke, Wulf D. 2013. First herpetological appraisal of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Gaza Province, southern Mozambique. Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 3: 153-163 - 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
  • Tiutenko, A., Koch, C., Pabijan, M., & Zinenko, O. 2022. Generic affinities of African house snakes revised: a new genus for Boodon erlangeri (Serpentes: Elapoidea: Lamprophiidae: Lamprophiinae). SALAMANDRA, 58(4), 235-262 - get paper here
  • Tolley KA, Telford NS, Makhubo BG, Power RJ, Alexander GJ 2023. Filling the gap: Noteworthy herpetological discoveries in North West Province, South Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 99(1): 101-116 - get paper here
  • Venter, Jan A.; Werner Conradie 2015. A checklist of the reptiles and amphibians found in protected areas along the South African Wild Coast, with notes on conservation implications. Koedoe 57 (1): 1-25. doi: 10.4102/koedoe.v57i1.1247 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van 2019. Axial bifurcation and duplication in snakes. Part VII. Axial bifurcation with pseudoquadritomy in Boaedon capensis Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854 Podarcis 10 (1): 3-6 - 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.
  • 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
 
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