Thelotornis uluguruensis BROADLEY & WALLACH, 2002
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Thelotornis uluguruensis?
Thelotornis uluguruensis
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Dagger-tooth Vine Snake |
| Synonym | Xyelodontophis uluguruensis BROADLEY & WALLACH 2002: 66 Xyelodontophis uluguruensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 804 Thelotornis uluguruensis — EIMERMACHER 2012 Xyelodontophis uluguruensis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 509 Thelotornis uluguruensis — ENGELBRECHT et al. 2026 |
| Distribution | Tanzania Type locality: Lupanga Peak, Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania (06° 52’ S, 37° 43’ E). |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: NMZB 7443 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): A member of the tribe Dispholidini, differing from the other genera in the development of strongly curved rear maxillary teeth, which have sharp flanges anteriorly and posteriorly and narrow at the base, hence the name Xyelodontophis = Dagger-tooth Snake. Both species of Rhamnophis also have dagger-shaped rear maxillary teeth, but they are less well developed and the teeth taper from base to tip, while Thelotornis and Dispholidus have large deeply grooved rear fangs. The new genus agrees with Thrasops and Thelotornis in having a shalowly forked ectopterygoid bone, whereas Rhamnophis and Dispholidus have a deeply forked ectopterygoid. In general form and scalation the new snake agrees with Thelotornis, but it lacks the distinctive horizontal pupil of that genus. (Broadley & Wallach 2002) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about about .74 pages) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. |
| Comment | Synonymy: Eimermacher 2012 found that Xyelodontophis nests within Thelotornis in his unpublished thesis and thus suggested to synonymize the two. Type species: Xyelodontophis uluguruensis BROADLEY & WALLACH 2002 is the type species of the genus Xyelodontophis BROADLEY & WALLACH 2002. Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). |
| Etymology | Named after the type locality. The genus was named after Greek xyelos (ξυήλη), whittle, curved knife + Greek odontos (ὀδόντος), tooth + Greek ophis (ὄφις), snake. [“…strongly curved rear maxillary teeth, which have sharp flanges anteriorly and posteriorly and narrow at the base, hence the name Xyelodontophis = Dagger-tooth Snake…”]. |
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