Higher Taxa | Prosymnidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Pitman's Shovelsnout Snake, Multi-scaled Shovel-snout |
Synonym | Prosymna pitmani BATTERSBY 1951: 828 Prosymna pitmani — LOVERIDGE 1958: 167 Prosymna pitmani (incertae sedis) — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 29 Prosymna pitmani — WALLACH et al. 2014: 581 Prosymna pitmani — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 423 |
Distribution | SE Tanzania south to S Malawi.
Type locality: Kilwa district, Southern Region, Tanzania (restricted to Nanguale by LOVERIDGE 1958).
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Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: BMNH 1950.1.3.96-97, Type and Paratype, |
Diagnosis | Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1202 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
Comment | Prosymna pitmani is distinguished from all other members of the genus by its 19-21 midbody scale-rows [LOVERIDGE 1958].
Diet: reptile eggs |
Etymology | Named after Lieutenant Colonel Charles Robert Senhouse Pitman (1890-1975), an ornithologist and a herpetologist. He was an officer in the Indian army (1909-1921), serving with distinction in WWI in France, Egypt, Mesopotamia (now Iraq), and Palestine. |
References |
- Battersby, J. C. 1951. Description of a new species of snake Prosymna pitmani, sp. n., from Tanganyika Territory and notes on the genus. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (12) 4: 828-829 - get paper here
- Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - 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. 1979. Predation on Reptile Eggs by African Snakes of the Genus Prosymna. Herpetologica 35 (4): 338-341 - get paper here
- Loveridge, A. 1957. On a third collection of reptiles taken in Tanganyika by C.J.P. Ionides, Esq. Tanganyika Notes and Records 43: 1-19
- Loveridge,A. 1958. Revision of five african snake genera. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 119: 1-198 (141) - 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
- 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, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - 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.
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