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Lycophidion pygmaeum BROADLEY, 1996

IUCN Red List - Lycophidion pygmaeum - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaLamprophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Pygmy Wolf Snake 
SynonymLycophidion pygmaeum BROADLEY 1996
Lycophidium semiannulis — BOULENGER 1908: 228 (part.) (not PETERS)
Lycophidium semiannulis — BOULENGER 1910: 506 (part) (not PETERS)
Lycophidion pygmaeum — BRANCH 1993: 19
Lycophidion pygmaeum — BROADLEY 1996
Lycophidion pygmaeum — WALLACH et al. 2014: 411 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (KwaZulu)

Type locality: St. Lucia. Hlabisa District, KwaZulu, South Africa.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: DNMNH (= TM) (= TMP) 56602 (Transvaal Museum) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Nasal entire or semidivided, no postnasal. Dorsal scales with single apical pits, in 17 rows, reducing to 15 about one head length anterior to the vent by fusion of rows 3 + 4. Ventrals 140-147 in males, 150-155 in females; subcaudals 25-28 in males; 21-24 in females. Head uniform black above, with a white band round the snout which breaks up behind the eye; dorsal scales stippled with white, ventrum black (Broadley 1996: 13). 
CommentSynonymy partly after BROADLEY 1996.

Distribution: see Map in Broadley 1996 
EtymologyNamed after Latin pygmaeus for dwarf, pygmy. Apparently referring to its smaller size compared to other members in the genus. 
References
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1910. A revised list of the South African reptiles and batrachians, with synoptic tables, special reference to the specimens in the South African Museum, and descriptions of new species. Annals of the South African Museum 5: 455-543 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Broadley, D.G. 1996. A revision of the genus Lycophidion Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Africa south of the equator. Syntarsus 3: 1-33. - get paper here
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria
  • 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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