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Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus (REINHARDT, 1843)

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Higher TaxaPsammophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Western beaked snake 
SynonymPsammophis oxyrhynchus REINHARDT 1843: 244
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — PETERS 1854
Coelopeltis oxyrhynchus — JAN 1863: 89
Rhagerrhis unguiculata — GÜNTHER 1868: 422
Rhagerrhis oxyrhynchus — GÜNTHER 1888: 327 (part.)
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — BOULENGER 1896: 12
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — BOULENGER 1896: 21
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — BOULENGER 1896: 146 (part)
Rhamphiophis oxyrrhynchus — BOETTGER 1913: 360
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — ANGEL 1922: 40
Rhamphiophis connali PARKER 1929: 450
Rhamphiophis connali — LOVERIDGE 1933: 199
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — ANGEL 1933: 764
Rhamphiophis connali — ANGEL 1933: 764
Rhamphiophis oxyrrhynchus — PASQUAL 1938: 37
Rhamphiophis connali — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1946: 187
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — ANGEL 1950: 48
Ramphiophis oxyrhynchus — DEKEYSER & VILLIERS 1954: 962
Ramphiophis oxyrhynchus — CONDAMIN 1958: 254
Ramphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — PERRET 1961: 136
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — ANFINNSEN 1966: 9
Ramphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — PAPENFUSS 1969: 312
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — HUGHES & BARRY 1969: 1021
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — BROADLEY 1971: 87
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — PITMAN 1974
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — BÖHME 1975: 39; 1978: 403
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — BONATH 1977: 35
Ramphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — COURTOIS & CHIPPAUX 1977: 75
Raphiophis oxyrhyunchus — STUCKI-STIRN 1979: 423
Rhamphiophis oxhrinchus — ASHE 1979: 19
Ramphiophis oxyrynchus — ROMAN 1980: 67
Rhamphiophis oxyrrhynchus — CHIFUDNERA 1990: 142
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — CHIRIO & INEICH 1991: 223
Ramphiophis oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus — MANE 1992: 23
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — BROADLEY 1998
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — SPAWLS et al. 2001
Rhampiophis oxyrhynchus — SPAWLS et al. 2002: 399
Ramphiophis [sic] oxyrhynchus — PADIAL 2006
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 646
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 447 
DistributionN Botswana, N Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ghana, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Central African Republic, Cameroon, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea (Conakry), Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania ?, Malawi, Namibia ?, Ethiopia, Uganda

Type locality: Ghana, Gambia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: ZMUC 63125 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: “Cette espèce se distingue de toutes les autres espèces du genre par la combinaison de trois caractères: présence de 17 rangées d'écailles dorsales au milieu du corps, absence de bandes longitudinales en arrière du cou et absence de taches paravertébrales plus sombres.” (Chirio & Ineich 1991).


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CommentSubspecies: Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus rostratus (PETERS 1854) is now considered as a valid species.

Distribution: It is suspected that specimens from “Tangaika” (Witte 1953) were obtained on the Tanzanian side of Lake Tanganyika (BROADLEY 1998). Not listed for Zambia by BROADLEY et al. (2003) and thus deleted for Zambia. Not in Mauritania and Namibia fide Chippaux & Jackson 2019: 280 (Fig. 11.74).

Synonymy initially after GÜNTHER 1888, updated after B. Hughes (pers. comm., 14 Nov 2016). R. connali has been described by Parker 1929 who lists R. oxyrhynchus as a synonym. 
EtymologyFrom Latin, alluding to the pointed rostral scale; oxyus = sharp, rhynchus = of the nose / snout, literally meaning sharp-snouted. 
References
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