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Thelotornis kirtlandii (HALLOWELL, 1844)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Forest Vine Snake, Bird Snake, Twig Snake
G: Lianennatter, Vogelnatter, Graue Baumnatter 
SynonymLeptophis kirtlandii HALLOWELL 1844: 62
Oxybelis Lecomptei DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 821
Tragophis rufulus DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 827
Dryophis Kirtlandii — HALLOWELL 1854: 100
Oxybelis violacea FISCHER 1856: 91
Oxybelis Kirtlandii — HALLOWELL 1857: 59
Dryophis Kirtlandii — BOCAGE 1866: 48
Thelotornis Kirtlandii — FISCHER 1884: 11
Dryiophis Kirtlandii — BOCAGE 1895 (part.)
Thelotornis kirtlandii — SCHMIDT 1923: 112
Thelotornis kirtlandii — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Thelotornis kirtlandii — RÖDEL & MAHSBERG 2000
Thelotornis kirtlandii — BROADLEY et al. 2003: 222
Thelotornis kirtlandii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 728
Thelotornis kirtlandii — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 505 
DistributionSomalia, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania (single record from the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika), Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire; except in the north), Congo (Brazzaville), Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic, Republic of South Sudan (RSS)

Type locality: “Liberia”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ANSP 5271 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1296 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy partly after BROADLEY 2001.

Photograph in Chippaux (1999 and 2001) is actually T. capensis (fide PAUWELS & BRANCH in HR 34: 272).

Distribution: see map in Broadley 2001: 59 (Fig. 2). For a map with localities in Equatorial Guinea see SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022.

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Jared Potter Kirtland (1793-1877), an American naturalist, botanist, doctor, legislator, teacher, and writer. He founded the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Cleveland Medical College. 
References
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