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Eryx colubrinus (LINNAEUS, 1758)

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Higher TaxaBoidae (Erycinae, Erycidae), Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesEryx colubrinus colubrinus (LINNAEUS 1758)
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei STULL 1932 
Common NamesE: Sand Boa
G: (Ostafrikanische) Sandboa (loveridgei: Kenia-Sandboa) 
SynonymAnguis colubrina LINNAEUS 1758: 228
Eryx thebaicus REUSS 1834: 134
Eryx Thebaicus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1844: 468
Eryx thebaicus — JAN 1864
Eryx jaculus — PARENTI & PICAGLIA 1886
Gongylophis thebaicus — BOULENGER 1892: 76
Eryx thebaicus — BOULENGER 1893: 125
Eryx thebaicus — BOULENGER 1896
Eryx loveridgei STULL 1932
Eryx thebaicus — SCORTECCI 1932
Eryx rufescens AHL 1933
Eryx colubrinus — SOCHUREK 1979
Eryx colubrinus colubrinus — GASPERETTI 1988: 207
Eryx (Neogongylophis) colubrinus — TOKAR 1989: 54
Gongylophis colubrinus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 210
Gongylophis colubrinus rufescens — JONES 2004
Eryx colubrinus — LANZA & NISTRI 2005
Gongylophis colubrinus — GRUBER 2009
Eryx colubrinus — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 450
Eryx colubrinus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 287
Eryx colubrinus — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 376

Eryx colubrinus loveridgei STULL 1932
Eryx thebaicus loveridgei STULL 1932: 29
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — SCORTECCI 1939: 267
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — BOGERT 1942
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 22
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — JONES 2004 
DistributionEgypt, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Chad ?, Niger ?, Tanzania, Somalia

Middle East: Yemen ?

loveridgei: Arid areas of Kenya and NE Tanzania at Kahe and Msembe near Ruaha National Park. Type locality: Mbunyuni, Kenya

Type locality: “Aegypto”  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesType: lost (presumed) (LANZA & NISTRI 2005, Reynolds & Henderson 2018)
Holotype: MCZ 18184, collected by Mr. A. Loveridge; paratypes: MCZ, AMNH [loveridgei] 
Diagnosis 
CommentDistribution: Not in Libya fide Bauer et al. 2017. Sindaco et al. 2013 have a question mark for Yemen, as there seem to be no confirmed records. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013.

Subspecies: Reynolds & Henderson 2018 do not recognize any subspecies, following Tokar’s 1996 recommendation, who found that diagnostic characters of this subspecies are clinal. However, the issue is not entirely settled (Lynch & Wagner 2010).

Behavior: FLOWER (1933: 804) mentioned that the snake is vicious, apt to bite anyone putting a hand near it. ANDERSON (1898: 236) said "They are very gentle in their disposition and seldom attempt to bite." 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin colubrinus (masculine adjective; feminine: colubrina; neuter: colubrinum): having the qualities of a snake. 
References
  • Ahl, E. 1933. Zur Kenntnis der afrikanischen Wühlschlangen der Gattung Eryx. Sitzungsber. Ges. naturf. Freunde Berlin 30: 324
  • Akeret, B. 2008. Gefahrenpotenzial Riesenschlangen. Reptilia (Münster) 13 (72): 4-12 - get paper here
  • Arth, Steven & Sandra Baus 2011. Die Ostafrikanische Sandboa Gongylophis colubrinus. Natur und Tier Verlag, 64 pp. [review in Reptilia 95: 86] - get paper here
  • Bogert, Charles M. 1942. Snakes secured by the Snyder East African Expedition in Kenya Colony and Tanganyika Territory. American Museum Novitates (1178): 1-5 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1892. Description of a new snake from Nubia. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 9: 74-76 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1994. A collection of snakes from eastern Sudan, with the description of a new species of Telescopus Wagler, 1830 (Reptilia: Ophidia). Journal of African Zoology 108 (2): 201-208.
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  • DATHE, F. 1985. Eryx colubrinus loveridgei Stull, 1932 Ostafrikanische Sandboa (Familie: Boidae, Riesenschlangen). Aqauarien Terrarien, Leipzig, 32 (10): 360
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  • Kirchhof S, Wasonga V, Mazuch T, Spawls S, Malonza KP. 2023. An annotated checklist of the herpetofauna of the Sibiloi National Park in northern Kenya based on field surveys. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 17(1/2) [General Section]: 1–18 (e324) - get paper here
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  • Lanza, B.; Nistri, A. 2005. Somali Boidae (genus Eryx Daudin 1803) and Pythonidae (genus Python Daudin 1803) (Reptilia Serpentes). Tropical Zoology 18 (1): 67-136. - get paper here
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  • 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
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  • Meer, J. van het 1997. Eryx colubrinus (Stull, 1932). Litteratura Serpentium 17 (1): 12-14
  • Meer, Jan van het 1998. Breeding results: Eryx colubrinus loveridgei. Litteratura Serpentium 18 (3): 75 - get paper here
  • Mutton, Nick 2012. Paradoxism. [color morphs]. HerpNation 2.5 (8): 12-17 - get paper here
  • Parenti, P. & Picaglia,L. 1886. Rettili e anfibi raccolti da Parenti nel viaggio di circumnavigazione della "Vettor Pisani" negli anni 1882-85, e da V. Ragazzi sulle coste del Mar Rosso e dell'America meridionale negli anni 1879-84. Atti della Società dei Naturalisti e Matematici, Modena (3) 5: 26-98
  • Pols, J.J. van der 1986. The husbandry and breeding of the Kenyan sand boa Eryx colubrinus loveridgei (Stull, 1932). Litteratura Serpentium 6 (6): 206-212 - get paper here
  • Reuss, A. 1834. Zoologische Miscellen. Reptilien, Ophidier. [Coluber albiventris, Echis pavo]. Mus. Senckenbergiana, Frankfurt/M., 1: 129-162. - get paper here
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