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Telescopus dhara (FORSKÅL, 1775)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesTelescopus dhara dhara (FORSKAL 1775)
Telescopus dhara somalicus (PARKER 1949) 
Common NamesE: Arabian Cat Snake, Large-Eyed Cat Snake, Israeli Catsnake
G: Israelische Katzennatter 
SynonymColuber dhara FORSKAL 1775: 14
Tarbophis guentheri ANDERSON 1895 (fide GASPERETTI 1988)
Tarbophis obtusus — BOULENGER 1896
Tarbophis guentheri — ANDERSON 1901: 150
Tarbophis guenteri [sic] — SCORTECCI 1932: 46
Tarbophis guentheri — SCHMIDT 1939: 85
Telescopus dhara — CORKILL & COCHRANE 1965
Telescopus dhara dhara — GASPERETTI 1988: 278
Telescopus dhara guentheri — WELCH
Telescopus guentheri — FRANK & RAMUS 1995: 240
Telescopus dhara dhara — CROCHET et al. 2008
Telescopus dhara — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 536
Telescopus dhara dhara — GARDNER 2013
Telescopus dhara — WALLACH et al. 2014: 710
Telescopus dhara — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 520

Telescopus dhara somalicus (PARKER 1949)
Tarbophis dhara somalicus PARKER 1949: 88
Telescopus dhara somalicus — GANS et al. 1965: 63
Telescopus dhara somalicus — CROCHET et al. 2008
Telescopus somalicus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 713 
DistributionOman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunesia, Libyia,
Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Uganda, Central African Republic ?, Chad, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, N Kenya

Type locality: Yemen

somalicus: Type locality: Ngatana, Kenya.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: unlocated (fide V. Wallach, pers. comm.)
Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.23.52 (formally 93.11.21.64) [somalicus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Dorsal scales in 19 or 21 rows at midbody; ventrals 235-274; anal entire; subcaudals 66-72; rostral much broader than high; internasals wider than long, about 1/2 length of prefrontals; prefrontals about 1/2 length of frontal; parietals longer than frontal, longer than wide; one preocular; 2 postoculars; temporals 2+2 or 2+3; usually 9 upper labials, sometimes 10, usually 3rd, 4th, and 5th enter eye, rarely 4th and 5th or 4th, 5th, and 6th. (See Fig. 14 [p. 216], Leviton et al. 1992: 107)


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CommentVenomous, but usually not dangerous to humans.

Distribution: Has been reported from Zaire but is not listed by BROADLEY & POYNTON 1998 for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire). Not listed by SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996. Not listed for Tanzania by BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991. Not in Mauritania (Padial, pers. comm.). The species in Mauritania is T. tripolitanus. Not in Cameroon nor Niger (L. Chirio, pers. comm., 23 Aug 2013.). Not in Mali fide Trape & Mané 2017. See map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019 for map in UAE. Not in Morocco (Martínez et al. 2019, and pers. comm. 18 Jan 2021). For maps see Sindaco et al. 2013, Bar et al. 2021, Crochet et al. 2008: 30 (Fig. 2), Šmíd et al. 2019: 39 (Fig. 1).

Synonymy: after Crochet et al. 2008 who suggested to maintain subspecific rank for both dhara and somalicus. However, WALLACH et al. 2014: 713 refers to Crochet et al. 2008 in their decision to elevated somalicus to full species.

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
References
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