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Polemon christyi (BOULENGER, 1903)

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Higher TaxaAtractaspididae (Aparallactinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Eastern Snake-eater 
SynonymMiodon christyi BOULENGER 1903: 354
Miodon unicolor SCHMIDT 1923: 119
Melanocalamus leopoldi DE WITTE 1941: 216
Miodon christyi — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947: 73
Melanocalamus leopoldi — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947: 80
Miodon collaris christyi — LOVERIDGE 1957: 283
Polemon christyi — WELCH 1994: 99
Polemon christyi — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 29
Polemon leopoldi — WELCH 1994: 99
Polemon christyi — CHIRIO & INEICH 2006
Polemon christyi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 561
Polemon leopoldi — WAGNER et al. 2014
Polemon christyi — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 461
Polemon christyi — CHIPPAUX & JACKSON 2019: 175 
DistributionDemocratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire; except in the west), Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Republic of South Sudan (RSS) ?, Zambia.

Type locality: Uganda.

leopoldi: Rwanda (Rwankeri district)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesType: BMNH 1946.1.8.88 (and possibly additional specimens). 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (941 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: Reports from the Central African Republic are questioned by CHIRIO & INEICH 2006.

Synonymy: after WALLACH et a. 2014: 561.

Similar species: P. ater has been split off from populations that were previously called P. christyi.

Behavior: P. christyi in Rwanda can be diurnal or nocturnal (Hinkel and Fischer 1988). 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Cuthbert Christy (1863-1932), a Scottish physician who travelled extensively in the West Indies, South America, Africa and the Middle East. He was a member of a League of Nations commission enquiring into slavery and forced labor in Liberia and at some time Director of the Congo Museum, Tervuren, Belgium.  
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1903. Descriptions of new snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) 12: 350-354 - get paper here
  • 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. 1991. The Herpetofauna of Northern Mwinilunga Distr., Northw. Zambia. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9 (37): 519-538
  • 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
  • Chifundera, K. 1990. Snakes of Zaire and their bites. Afr. Stud. Monogr. (Kyoto) 10(3): 137-157.
  • Chippaux, Jean-Philippe & Kate Jackson 2019. Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Johns Hopkins University Press, 448 pp. [detaileld review in HR 51 (1): 161] - get paper here
  • Chirio, Laurent and Ivan Ineich 2006. Biogeography of the reptiles of the Central African Republic. African Journal of Herpetology 55(1):23-59. - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. & Barry,D.H. 1969. The snakes of Ghana: a checklist and key. Bull. Inst. Franc. Afrique Noire A, 31: 1004-1041
  • Mercurio, V. 2007. Polemon christyi and Elapsoidea boulengeri: two new sake distribution records for Malawi. Salamandra 43 (4): 253-255 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Pitman,C.R.S. 1974. A guide to the snakes of Uganda. Codicote, Wheldon & Wesley, L., 290 pp.
  • Portillo, Frank; William R. Branch, Colin R. Tilbury, Zoltán T. Nagy, Daniel F. Hughes, Chifundera Kusamba, Wandege M. Muninga, Mwenebatu M. Aristote, Mathias Behangana, Eli Greenbaum 2019. A Cryptic New Species of Polemon (Squamata: Lamprophiidae, Aparallactinae) from the Miombo Woodlands of Central and East Africa. Copeia 107 (1): 22-36 - 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
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Tilbury, Colin and Bill Branch. 2014. Polemon christyi (Boulenger, 1903) Christy's Snake-eater. African Herp News (61): 36-38 - get paper here
  • Trape, J.-F. 2023. Guide des serpents d’Afrique occidentale, centrale et d’Afrique du Nord. IRD Éditions, Marseille, 896 pp.
  • 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.
  • Witte, G. F. de 1941. Batraciens et Reptiles. Exploration du Parc National Albert. Mission G. F. de Witte (1933-1935). Fascicule 33. Brussels 1941, 261 pp. - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de & LAURENT,R.F. 1947. Revision d'un groupe de Colubridae africains: genres Calamelaps, Miodon, Aparallactus, et formes affines. Mém. Mus. Roy. Hist. Nat. Belgique (sér. 2) 29: 1-134
 
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