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Aspidelaps lubricus (LAURENTI, 1768)

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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesAspidelaps lubricus cowlesi BOGERT 1940
Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus (LAURENTI 1768) 
Common NamesE: cowlesi: Angolan Coral Snake
infuscatus: Western Coral Snake
lubricus: Cape Coral Snake
G: Kap-Zwergschildkobra, Schildnasenkobra 
SynonymNatrix lubrica LAURENTI 1768: 80
Elaps lubricus MERREM 1820: 143
Naia Somersetta SMITH 1826: 253
Elaps lubricus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1218
Aspidelaps lubricus — STERNFELD 1910: 57
Aspidelaps lubricus — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958
Aspidelaps lubricus — BRANCH 1981
Aspidelaps lubricus — WELCH 1994: 19
Aspidelaps lubricus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 56
Aspidelaps lubricus — SCHLEICHER 2020

Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi BOGERT 1940
Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi BOGERT 1940: 94
Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus MERTENS 1954: 215
Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus — WELCH 1994: 19
Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus — BAUER et al. 1993
Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi — WELCH 1994: 19
Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi — BROADLEY & BALDWIN 2006
Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus — CIMATTI 2007
Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus — SCHLEICHER 2015: 212
Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus — MARQUES et al. 2018

Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus (LAURENTI 1768)
Natrix lubrica LAURENTI 1768: 80
Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus — WELCH 1994: 19
Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus — DOBIEY & VOGEL 2007
Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus — BATES et al. 2014: 394 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (Cape Province), S Angola, Namibia

lubricus: Cape Province, Orange Free State

cowlesi: S Angola, N Namibia; Type locality: “Munhino (101 km east of Mossamedes, via railroad)” (Bogert 1940:95) [= Muninho, 101 km east of Namibe], Namibe Province, Angola.

infuscatus: Namibia

Type locality: Cape of Good Hope  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: iconotype, based on specimen in Seba, 1735: pl. 43, fig. 3.
Holotype: AMNH 32801 (collectors A.S. Vernay, H. Lang and R. Boulton). [cowlesi] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3244 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

BROADLEY & BALDWIN synonymized Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus with A. l. cowlesi.

Type species: Elaps lubricus MERREM 1820 is the type species of the genus Aspidelaps FITZINGER 1843: 28.

Key: Branch 1981 provides a key to Southern African species.

Behavior: Although usually considered relatively harmless, this belief may stem from their small size, and the presence of few published case-histories. However, A. l. infuscatus , at least, has a highly toxic venom, and is capable of inflicting a potentially dangerous bite. (Branch 1981)

Habitat: In habits both species are semi-fossorial, and to this end the enlarged rostral may be likened to a bulldozer-blade, aiding the snake in burrowing through loose soil. This character is shared by a number of other semi-fossorial shakes, noticeable the coiubrids Lytorhynchus and PhyIlorhynchus. A. Iubricus has a less well-developed rostral than scutatus, and this may be correlated with the more arid regions that it inhabits. (Branch 1981) 
References
  • Akeret, B. 2004. Grundlagen der Giftschlangenhaltung. Draco 5 (17): 37-53 - get paper here
  • BARTS, M. & J. BOONE 2009. Das Portät: Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus (LAURENTI). Sauria 31 (1): 1-2 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Bauer, A.M., and Branch, W.R. 2003. The herpetofauna of the Richtersveld National Park, Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. Herpetological Natural History 8: 111-160 [2001]
  • Bauer, Aaron M.; Branch, William R. & Haacke, Wulf D. 1993. The herpetofauna of the Kamanjab area and adjacent Damaraland, Namibia. Madoqua (Windhoek) 18 (2): 117-145. - get paper here
  • Bogert,C.M. 1940. Herpetological results of the Vernay Angola Expedition. I. Snakes, including an arrangement of the African Colubridae. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 77: 1-107 - get paper here
  • Böhm, H.-U. & Oellers, R. 1987. Bemerkungen zur Haltung und Nachzucht von Vertretern der Elapiden-Gattung Aspidelaps FITZNGER 1843. Herpetofauna 9 (51): 15-18 - get paper here
  • Branch, W. R. 1981. The venomous snakes of southern Africa 2. Elapidae and Hydrophidae. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 17 (1): 1-47 - get paper here
  • Branch, W.R. 1981. Venom of the South West African Coral Snake, Aspidelaps l. infuscatus. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (25): 2-4 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
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  • Conradie, Werner; Brian Reeves , Neil Brown, & Jan A. Venter 2016. Herpetofauna of the Oviston, Commando Drift and Tsolwana nature reserves in the arid interior of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Indago 32: 81-98 - get paper here
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  • 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
  • Fitzsimons, V.F.M.; Brain, C.K. 1958. A Short account of the Reptiles of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe, 1(1): 99-104 - get paper here
  • Groen, J. 2008. Het houden van gifslangen. Lacerta 66 (1-3): 16-21 - get paper here
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  • Jeansch, M. 1988. Life History Note: Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus: Captive Breeding. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (34): 45-45 - get paper here
  • Laurenti, J. N. 1768. Specimen medicum, exhibens synopsin reptilium emendatam cum experimentis circa venena et antidota reptilium austracorum, quod authoritate et consensu. Vienna, Joan. Thomae, 217 pp. - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Mavromichalis, Johan;Bloem, Silvia 1997. Description of the genus Aspidelaps and a successful breeding with Aspidelaps lubricus infuscatus. Litteratura Serpentium 17 (1): 6-9
  • Mertens, R. 1954. Neue Schlangenrassen aus Südwest- und Südafrika. Zool. Anz. 152: 213-219
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  • Schilperoord, P. 2008. Het houden en verzorgen van de Koraal Schildcobra, Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus, en de Namibische Schildcobra, Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi. Lacerta 66 (1-3): 92-111 - get paper here
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2015. Reptilien Namibias. Namibia Scientific  Society, 276 pp.
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  • Ulber, T. 1998. Erfahrungen mit dem Biß der Korallenkobra Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus (Laurenti, 1768) (Serpentes: Elapidae). Sauria 20 (2): 33-36 - get paper here
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