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Calabaria reinhardtii (SCHLEGEL, 1851)

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Higher TaxaBoidae (Calabariinae or Calabariidae), Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Calabar Ground Python, African Burrowing Python
G: Erdpython 
SynonymEryx reinhardtii SCHLEGEL 1851
Calabaria fusca GRAY 1858: 155
Calabaria fusca GRAY 1858: 301
Rhoptrura reinhardti – PETERS 1858
Eryx (Rhoptrura) Reinhardtti [sic] — FISCHER 1879: 91
Rhoptrura petiti SAUVAGE 1884: 202
Calabaria reinhardti – BOULENGER 1893: 92
Calabaria reinhardtii – BARBOZA DU BOCAGE 1903
Calabaria reinhardtii – SCHMIDT 1923: 57
Charina reinhardtii — KLUGE 1993
Charina reinhardtii — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 203
Calabaria reinhardti — GOSSMANN et al. 2002
Calabaria reinhardtii — TRAPE & BALDÉ 2014
Calabaria reinhardtii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 132
Calabaria reinhardtii — REYNOLDS & HENDERSON 2018: 23
Calabaria reinhardtii — SENTER & CHIPPAUX 2022
Calabaria reinhardti — TRAPE 2023: 184 
DistributionSierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, W/C/E, N? Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon (BOULENGER 1900), Guinea (Conakry), Benin, Angola (Cabinda), Equatorial Guinea

Type locality: „Goldküste"  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 1471, unknown sex; RMNH fide KLUGE 1993, apparently in error. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1370 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy (partly) after A. Schmitz (pers. comm.).

Distribution: not in Benin fide HUGHES 2013 but TRAPE & BALDÉ 2014: 320 list it for Benin. Not in Angola fide Branch 2018 but in Cabinda fide Marques et al. 2018. For a map with localities in Equatorial Guinea see SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022.

Higher taxa: Some recent authors have erected a separate family, Calabariidae, for this genus (e.g. Pyron et al. 2013). Pyron et al. 2014 found that Calabaria nests within the Boidae and hence split up the boas into multiple families. After consultation with the Scientific Advisory Board of the Reptile Database we prefer to maintain Calabaria as a subfamily which avoids paraphyly within (unnecessarily) breaking up the boas into many families.

Type species: Calabaria fusca GRAY 1858 is the type species of the genus Calabaria GRAY 1858.

Type genus: Calabaria Gray 1858 is the type genus of the family Calabariidae Gray 1858 (see also Pyron et al. 2014).

Behavior: When seriously annoyed it rolls itself into a compact ball, the head in the center, which it is very difficult to straighten out. It never tries to bite (H. Lang, cited in Schmidt 1923). 
EtymologyNamed after Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (1816-1882), Danish herpetologist. 
References
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  • Jackson, Kate; Ange-Ghislain Zassi-Boulou, Lis-Bethy Mavoungou, and Serge Pangou 2007. Amphibians and Reptiles of the LacTélé Community Reserve, Likouala Region, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). Herp. Cons. Biol. 2 (2): 75-86 - get paper here
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