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Atractaspis bibronii SMITH, 1849

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Higher TaxaLamprophiidae, Atractaspidinae, Serpentes (snakes) 
SubspeciesAtractaspis bibronii bibroni SMITH 1849
Atractaspis bibronii rostrata GÜNTHER 1868 
Common NamesSouthern or Bibron's Burrowing Asp, Mole Viper 
SynonymAtractaspis bibronii SMITH 1849: 51
Atractaspis inornatus SMITH 1849
Atractaspis Bibronii — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1304
Atractaspis rostrata GÜNTHER 1868: 429
Atractaspis irregularis var. Bibronii BOETTGER 1887: 165
Atractaspis Katangae BOULENGER 1910: 13
Atractaspis Coarti BOULENGER 1901: 14
Atractaspis rostrata — LOVERIDGE 1929
Atractaspis bibronii katangae — LAURENT 1945: 335
Atractaspis bibronii rostrata — LAURENT 1950: 33
Atractaspis bibronii — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958
Atractaspis bibronii — AUERBACH 1987: 179
Atractaspis bibroni — WELCH 1994: 21
Atractaspis bibronii — BROADLEY 1998
Atractaspis bibronii — BROADLEY et al. 2003: 81 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Angola, Kenya, Botswana, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Type locality: “Eastern districts of the Cape Colony”. This locality is questioned by BROADLEY (1991) and others, who believes that the type might have been collected in the Northern Cape Province or the Western Transvaal. Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
TypesSyntype: Natural History Museum London 1946.1.18.19 
CommentVenomous!

Type species: Atractaspis inornatus SMITH 1849 is the type species of the genus Atractaspis SMITH 1849.

Synonymy: Kaiser et al. 2013 rejected the generic name Hoseraspea Hoser 2012 and synonymized it with Atractaspis.

Similar species: Similar in appearance to Elapsoidea but little stouter and usually pale below.

Reproduction: egg-laying; Broadley 1959 reported intermediates between A. bibroni and rostrata.

Habitat: burrowing.

Etymology: Named after Gabriel Bibron (1806-1848), French zoologist. 
References
  • Auerbach,R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Boettger,O. 1887. Zweiter Beitrag zur Herpetologie Südwest- und Südafrikas. Ber. senckenb. naturf. Ges., Frankfurt am Main, 1887:135-173 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1901. Materiaux pour la faune du Congo. Batraciens et reptiles nouveaux. Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Zool. (sect. C. ser. 1) 2: 7-14.
  • Boulenger,G.A. 1910. A revised list of the South African reptiles and batrachians, with synoptic tables, special reference to the specimens in the South African Museum, and descriptions of new species. Ann. South African Mus. 5: 455-538.
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland, 1992; online at http://www.sntc.org.sz/checklst/sdreptam.html.
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Branch, William R. & Bauer, Aaron M. 2005. The herpetological contributions of Sir Andrew Smith. SSAR, 80 pp.
  • 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. 1959. The herpetology of Southern Rhodesia. Part I--the snakes Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 120 (1): 1-100 [reprint 1972] - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1991. A review of the southern African stiletto snakes of the genus Atractaspis A.Smith (Serpentes: Atractaspididae). Arnoldia 9 (36): 495-517
  • 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.
  • 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]
  • Broadley, Donald G. and F. P. D. Cotterill. 2004. The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot'. [Congo] African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35-61. - get paper here
  • Broadley,D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
  • Chifundera, K. 1990. Snakes of Zaire and their bites. Afr. Stud. Monogr. (Kyoto) 10(3): 137-157.
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa/Giftschlangen Afrikas. Terralog 15, Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 150 pp.
  • Duméril, A. M. C., BIBRON, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Fitzsimons, V.F.M.; Brain, C.K. 1958. A Short account of the Reptiles of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe, 1(1): 99-104
  • Günther, A. 1868. Sixth account of new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 1: 413-429 - get paper here
  • Haagner,G.V.; Branch,W.R. & Haagner,A.J.F. 2000. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Zambia and adjacent areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Annals of the Eastern Cape Museum 1: 1 – 25
  • Hoser, R. 2012. A reassessment of the Burrowing Asps, Atractaspis Smith, 1849 with the erection of a new genus and two Tribes (Serpentes: Atractaspidae). Australasian Journal of Herpetology 11: 56-58 - 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
  • Kaiser, H.; Crother, B.I.; Kelly, C.M.R.; Luiselli, L.; O’Shea, M.; Ota, H.; Passos, P.; Schleip, W. 2013. Best Practices: In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer-Review. Herpetological Review 44 (1): 8-23
  • Lanza, B. 1990. Amphibians and reptiles of the Somali Democratic Republic: check list and biogeography. Biogeographia, 14: 407-465 [1988]
  • Lanza,B. 1983. A list of the Somali amphibians and reptiles. MONITORE ZOOLOGICO ITALIANO, new Ser., SUPPL. 18 (8): 193-247
  • 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
  • Laurent,R.F. 1950. reptiles et Batraciens de la région de Dundo (Angola du Nord-Est). Première note. Publ. cult. Co. Diam. Angola 10: 7-17
  • 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. 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
  • MARAIS, J. 2010. Atractaspis bibronii (Smith, 1849) Diet Afr. Herp News (52): 9
  • Rasmussen,J.B. 1981. The snakes from the rainforest of the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania: a checklist and key. Salamandra 17 (3/4): 173-188
  • Seung Hoon, Cha 2012. Snake, the world most beautifull curve [in Korean]. Hownext, 304 pp. [ISBN 978-89-965656-7-3] - get paper here
  • Smith, A. 1849. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 3 (Reptiles). Smith, Elder, and Co., London - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2001. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147]
  • Sternfeld, R. 1910. Zur Schlangenfauna Deutsch-Südwestafrikas. Mehrere Fälle von Mimikry bei afrikanischen Schlangen. Mitt. zool. Mus. Berlin, 5: 51-60
 
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