You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Telescopus dhara

Telescopus dhara (FORSKÅL, 1775)

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Telescopus dhara?

Add your own observation of
Telescopus dhara »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

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) 
CommentDistribution: 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 a map see Sindaco et al. 2013 and Bar et al. 2021.

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).

Venomous, but usually not dangerous to humans. 
References
  • Al-Quran, S. 2009. The Herpetofauna of the Southern Jordan. American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 6 (4): 385-391 [this journal has a dubious record, see http://goo.gl/81SBPv]
  • Aloufi, Abdulhadi A.; Zuhair S. Amr, Mohammad A. Abu Baker 2021. Reptiles and Amphibians of Al Madinah Al Munawwarah Province, Saudi Arabia. Russian Journal of Herpetology 28 (3): 1 - get paper here
  • Alshammari, A. M. and Busais, S. M. 2020. Distribution of snakes in Ha’il Province, Saudi Arabia, with an identification key to the species. Russian Journal of Herpetology 27 (1): 5-10. - get paper here
  • Alshammari, Ahmed Mohajja; Salem M. Busais, Abdel A. Ibrahim 2017. Snakes in the Province of Ha’il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including two new records. Herpetozoa 30 (1/2): 59 - 63 - get paper here
  • Anderson, J. 1895. On a collection of reptiles and batrachians made by Colonel Yerbury at Aden and its neighbourhood. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1895: 635—663 - get paper here
  • Anderson, John 1901. A list of the reptiles and batrachians obtained by Mr. A. Blayney Percival in southern Arabia. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1901 (2): 137-152 - get paper here
  • Arnold E N 1980. The scientific results of the Oman flora and fauna survey 1977 (Dhofar). The reptiles and amphibians of Dhofar, southern Arabia. JOURNAL OF OMAN STUDIES SPECIAL REPORT (No. 2): 273-332 - get paper here
  • Bar, A., Haimovitch, G. and Meiri, S. 2021. Field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Israel. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt Am Main. ISBN 9783-89973-120-0 - get paper here
  • Bar, Aviad and Guy Haimovitch 2012. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Israel. Pazbar LTD, 246 pp. - get paper here
  • Böhme,W.; Schmitz,A. & Messer 1989. Erster Nachweis der Gattung Telescopus für die Schlangenfauna Marokkos. Salamandra 25 (2): 73-76 - get paper here
  • Boulenger,G.A. 1895. Rettili e Batraci. in, Esplorazione del Giuba e dei suoi Affluenti compiuta dal Cap. V. Bottego durante gli Anni 1892-93 sotto gli auspicii della Società Geografica Italiana. Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Giacomo Doria (2) 15: 9-18 - 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.
  • Burriel-Carranza B, Pedro Tarroso, Johannes Els, Andrew Gardner, Pritpal Soorae, Ahmed Ali Mohammed, Sai Ravi Krishna Tubati, Mohamed Mustafa Eltayeb, Junid Nazeer Shah, Héctor Tejero-Cicuéndez, Marc Simó-Riudalbas, Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos, Daniel F 2019. An integrative assessment of the diversity, phylogeny, distribution, and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles (Sauropsida, Squamata) of the United Arab Emirates. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0216273 - get paper here
  • Burriel-Carranza, B., Els, J., & Carranza, S. 2022. Reptiles & amphibians of the Hajar Mountains CSIC, Barcino Solucions Gràfiques, SL, Barcelona, - get paper here
  • Carranza S, Xipell M, Tarroso P, Gardner A, Arnold EN, Robinson MD, et al. 2018. Diversity, distribution and conservation of the terrestrial reptiles of Oman (Sauropsida, Squamata). PLoS One 13 (2): e0190389 - get paper here
  • Carranza, Salvador; Johannes Els; Bernat Burriel-Carranza 2021. A field guide to the reptiles of Oman. Madrid : Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 223 pp. [review in HR 53 (3): 531] - get paper here
  • Chabanaud,P. 1916. Description d’un serpent nouveau de Mauritanie saharienne. Bull. Mus. natn. Hist. nat. Paris 1916: 77-78 - 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
  • Corkill, N. L. and Cochrane, J. A. 1966. The snakes of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 62 (3): 475-506 (1965) - get paper here
  • Cox, N.A., Mallon, D., Bowles, P., Els, J. and Tognelli, M.F. (compilers). 2012. The Conservation Status and Distribution of Reptiles of the Arabian Peninsula. Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, and Sharjah, UAE: Environment and Protected Areas Authority; ISBN 978-2-8317-1560-5 - get paper here
  • Disi, A M 1993. A contribution to the herpetofauna of Jordan: 5. New records of three colubrid snakes from Jordan. The Snake 25 (2): 109-113
  • Disi, A.M.; Modry, D.; Necas, P. & Rifai, L. 2001. Amphibians and reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 408 pp.
  • Domergue, C. 1955. Note sur un serpent nouveau: Pseudotarbophis gabesi n. sp. Bull. Soc. Sci. Nat. Tunisie 12: 71-72
  • Domergue, C. 1959. Clé de determination des serpents de Tunisie et Afrique du Nord. Arch. Inst. Pasteur tunis 36: 163-172
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Egan, D. 2007. Snakes of Arabia. Motivate Publishing, Dubai, 208 pp.
  • Farkas, Balázs; Balázs Buzás & Valér Farkas 2018. Additions to the herpetofauna of the Wadi Wurayah National Park, Fujairah. Tribulus 26: 42-45 - get paper here
  • Forskål,P. 1775. Descriptiones animalium, avium, amphibiorum, piscium, insectorum, vermium; quae in itinere Orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. Mölleri, Hauniae, xxxiv + 164 pp. - get paper here
  • Gans, C.; LAURENT, R.F. & PANDIT, H. 1965. Notes on a herpetological collection from the Somali Republic. Ann. Mus. Roy. Afr. Centr., Sér. 8vo, Tervuren, (80) Zool., (134): 1-93
  • Gardner, A.S. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Oman and the UAE. Edition Chimaira, 480 pp.
  • Gardner, Andrew S., Neil Tovey and Johannes Els. 2009. The Arabian cat snake (Telescopus dhara (Forskal, 1775)): a new species record for the United Arab Emirates, with notes on the species in Oman. Tribulus: Journal of the Emirates Natural History Group 18: 24-27 - get paper here
  • Gasperetti,J. 1988. Snakes of Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 9: 169-450
  • Geniez, Philippe 2018. Snakes of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Princeton University Press, 384 pp. - get paper here
  • Grossmann, W., Kowalski, T., Zwanzig, B. M., Zilger, H. J. and Gebhart, J. 2020. Herpetological observations in Oman: Al Mughsayl and Wadi Ashawq in Dhofar, Part 1. Amphibia: Anura; Reptilia: Squamata: Sauria. Sauria 42 (1): 1-20.
  • Grossmann, W., T. Kowalski, B. M. ZWANZIG & H.-J. ZILGER 2012. Ergänzende herpetologische Beobachtungen auf dem Saiq-Plateau und im Jebel al-Akhdar, Sultanat Oman. Sauria 34 (4): 3-18 - get paper here
  • Grossmann, Wolfgang; Bernd-Michael Zwanzig, Thomas Kowalski & Hans-Jürgen Zilger 2013. Weitere ergänzende herpetologische Beobachtungen auf dem Saiq-Plateau und im Jebel al-Akhdar, Sultanat Oman. Sauria 35 (3): 23–31 - get paper here
  • Gruber, U. 2009. Die Schlangen Europas, 2. Aufl. Kosmos Naturführer, 266 pp.
  • Haas, G. & J. C. Battersby, 1959. Amphibians and reptiles from Arabia. Copeia 1959 (3): 196-202 - get paper here
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Jongbloed, M. 2000. Field Guide to the reptiles and amphibians of the UAE - Wild about reptiles. Barkers Trident Communications, 116 pp.
  • Lanza, B. 1990. Amphibians and reptiles of the Somali Democratic Republic: check list and biogeography. Biogeographia, 14: 407-465 [1988] - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp.
  • Largen,M.J. & Rasmussen,J.B. 1993. Catalogue of the snakes of Ethiopia (Reptilia Serpentes), including identification keys. Tropical Zoology 6: 313-434 - get paper here
  • Leviton,A.E.; Anderson,S.C.; Adler, K.; Minton,S.A. 1992. Handbook to Middle East Amphibians and Reptiles. SSAR, Oxford, Ohio (Contr. to Herpetol. No. 8), 1-252
  • Loveridge, A. 1956. On snakes collected in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by J.S. Owen, Esq. Sudan Notes Rec. 36: 37-56 [1955]
  • 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
  • Marx,Hymen 1968. Checklist of the reptiles and amphibians of Egypt. Spec. Publ. U.S. Nav. Med. Res. Unit 3: 1-91
  • Mazuch, Tomáš 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of Somaliland and Eastern Ethiopia. Tomáš Mazuch Publishing, 80 pp. ISBN: 978-80-905439-0-4 - get paper here
  • Meiri, Shai; Amos Belmaker, Daniel Berkowic, Kesem Kazes, Erez Maza, Guy Bar-Oz and Roi Dor 2019. A checklist of Israeli land vertebrates. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution - get paper here
  • Modrý, P., Rifai, L., Abu Baker, M. & Amr, Z. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Denisia 14 (Neue Serie 2): 407-420 - get paper here
  • Padial, J. M. 2006. COMMENTED DISTRIBUTIONAL LIST OF THE REPTILES OF MAURITANIA (WEST AFRICA). Graellsia, 62(2): 159-178 - get paper here
  • Parker,H.W. 1949. The snakes of Somaliland and the Sokotra islands. Zoologische Verhandelingen 6: 1-115 - get paper here
  • Pitman,C.R.S. 1974. A guide to the snakes of Uganda. Codicote, Wheldon & Wesley, L., 290 pp.
  • Rasmussen, Jens B. 1979. An intergeneric analysis of some boigine snakes - Bogert's (1940) group XIII and XIV (Boiginae, Serpentes). Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening 141: 97-155
  • Reuss, A. 1834. Zoologische Miscellen. Reptilien, Ophidier. [Coluber albiventris, Echis pavo]. Mus. Senckenbergiana, Frankfurt/M., 1: 129-162. - get paper here
  • Schätti, B. & Gasperetti, J. 1994. A contribution to the herpetofauna of Southwest Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 14: 348-423
  • Schleich, H.H., Kästle,W., Kabisch, K. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koeltz, Koenigstein, 627 pp.
  • Schlüter, U. 2006. Die nordafrikanisch-arabische Katzennatter Telescopus dhara (FORSSKAL 1775). Reptilia (Münster) 11 (59): 71-75 - get paper here
  • Schmidt,K.P. 1939. Reptiles and amphibians from Southwestern Asia. Publ. Field Mus. nat. Hist., zool. Ser., 24: 49-92 - get paper here
  • Scortecci ,G. 1939. Spedizione zoologica del Marchese Saverio patrizi nel Basso Giuba e nell'Oltre Giuba. Giugno-agosto 1934. XII. Rettili Ofidi. Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Giacomo Doria 58: 263-291 - get paper here
  • Scortecci, G. 1932. Rettili dello Yemen. Atti soc. Ital. Sci.Nat. 71: 39-49 - get paper here
  • Sindaco, R.; Alberto Venchi & Cristina Grieco 2013. The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic, Volume 2: Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Snakes of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia, with an Update to Volume 1. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 543 pp. - get paper here
  • Šmíd, J., Göçmen, B., Crochet, P.-A., Trape, J.-F., Mazuch, T., Uvizl, M., & Nagy, Z. T. 2019. Ancient diversification, biogeography, and the role of climatic niche evolution in the Old World cat snakes (Colubridae, Telescopus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
  • Sochurek,E. 1979. Die Schlangen Nordafrikas. Mitt. Zool. Ges. Braunau 3 (8/9): 219-226
  • 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
  • van der Kooij, Jeroen 2001. The herpetofauna of the Sultanate of Oman: Part 4: The terrestrial snakes. Podarcis 2 (2): 54-65 - get paper here
  • Venchi, Alberto and Roberto Sindaco 2006. Annotated checklist of the reptiles of the Mediterranean countries, with keys to species identification. Part 2 -Snakes (Reptilia, Serpentes). Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "G. Doria", Genova, XCVIII: 259-364
  • 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.
  • Werner, F. 1909. Reptilien, Batrachier und Fische von Tripoli und Barka. Zool. Jahrb. Syst. 27: 593-646 - get paper here
  • Werner, Y.L. 1983. BEHAVIOURAL TRIANGULATION OF THE HEAD IN THREE BOIGINE SNAKES: POSSIBLE CASES O F MIMICRY. Israel JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 32: 205-228
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Telescopus&species=dhara

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator