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Amblyodipsas polylepis (BOCAGE, 1873)

IUCN Red List - Amblyodipsas polylepis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAtractaspididae (Aparallactinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesAmblyodipsas polylepis polylepis (BOCAGE 1873)
Amblyodipsas polylepis hildebrandtii (PETERS 1877) 
Common Namespolylepis: Common Purple-glossed Snake
hildebrandtii: Common Purple-glossed Snake 
SynonymCalamelaps polylepis BOCAGE 1873: 216
Calamelaps unicolor FITZSIMONS (fide BOYCOTT 1992)
Calamelaps unicolor polylepis — FITZSIMONS 1946
Calamelaps unicolor polylepis — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947
Amblyodipsas polylepis — WELCH 1994: 15
Amblyodipsas polylepis — BOYCOTT 1992
Amblyodipsas polylepis — BROADLEY et al. 2003: 86
Amblyodipsas polylepis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 26
Amblyodipsas polylepis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 468
Amblyodipsas polylepis — PIETERSEN et al. 2021

Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis (BOCAGE 1873)
Calamelaps miolepis — GÜNTHER 1888
Calamelaps warreni BOULENGER 1908: 234
Calamelaps mellandi BOULENGER 1915
Calamelaps unicolor warreni — FITZSIMONS 1946
Calamelaps unicolor miolepis — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947
Calamelaps unicolor warreni — LOVERIDGE 1951: 108
Calamelaps unicolor warreni — LOVERIDGE 1957: 15
Calamelaps unicolor miolepis — BROADLEY 1959
Calamelaps unicolor miolepis — BROADLEY 1962
Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis — AUERBACH 1987: 173
Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis — BATES et al. 2014: 345
Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis — STANDER 2023: 254

Amblyodipsas polylepis hildebrandtii (PETERS 1877)
Atractaspis Hildebrandtii PETERS 1877: 616
Calamelaps unicolor hildebrandtii — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947
Calamelaps unicolor unicolor — LOVERIDGE 1957 (fide RASMUSSEN 1981)
Amblyodipsas polylepis hildebrandtii — RASMUSSEN 1981: 179
Amblyodipsas polylepis hildebrandtii — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 28
Atractaspis polylepis — BAUER et al. 1995: 68 
DistributionAngola, Namibia, Botswana, S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Republic of South Africa (Transvaal, Natal, Eswatini (Swaziland)), E/S Tanzania, coastal Kenya, Somalia

hildebrandtii: coastal Kenya, E/S Tanzania, Somalia; Type locality: Zanzibar.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: lost, was MB (Museu Bocage) (probably lost in fire 1978)
Holotype: ZMB 8595 (not located fide V. Wallach, pers. comm.) collected by Hildebrandt [hildebrandtii] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1140 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: TORNIER (1900) synonymized Atractaspis Hildebrandtii PETERS 1877 with Amblyodipsas unicolor. 
EtymologyApparently named after the high number of (ventral?) scales, from Greek polys (πολύς), several + Greek lepis (λεπίς), scale.

A. p. hildebrandtii was named after Johann Maria Hildebrandt (1847-1881), a German botanist and explorer. 
References
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