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Atractaspis bibronii SMITH, 1849

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Higher TaxaAtractaspididae (Atractaspidinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesAtractaspis bibronii bibronii SMITH 1849
Atractaspis bibronii rostrata GÜNTHER 1868 
Common NamesE: Bibron’s Stiletto Snake, Southern or Bibron's Burrowing Asp, Mole Viper 
SynonymAtractaspis bibronii SMITH 1849: 51
Atractaspis inornatus SMITH 1849
Atractaspis Bibronii — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1304
Atractaspis irregularis var. Bibronii BOETTGER 1887: 165
Atractaspis Coarti BOULENGER 1901: 14
Atractaspis bibronii — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958
Atractaspis bibronii — AUERBACH 1987: 179
Atractaspis bibroni — WELCH 1994: 21
Atractaspis bibronii — BROADLEY 1998
Atractaspis bibronii — BROADLEY et al. 2003: 81
Atractaspis bibronii — WALLACH et al. 2014: 63
Atractaspis bibronii — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 473
Atractaspis bibronii — PIETERSEN et al. 2021
Atractaspis bibroni — TRAPE 2023: 350

Atractaspis bibronii rostrata GÜNTHER 1868
Atractaspis rostrata GÜNTHER 1868: 429
Atractaspis Katangae BOULENGER 1901: 13
Atractaspis Katangae — DE WITTE 1933
Atractaspis bibronii katangae — LAURENT 1945: 335
Atractaspis rostrata — WERNER 1913: 32
Atractaspis rostrata — LOVERIDGE 1929
Atractaspis bibronii rostrata — LAURENT 1950: 33
Atractaspis bibronii rostrata — RÖDEL et al. 2019
Atractaspis katangae — TRAPE & COLLET 2021
Atractaspis rostrata — TRAPE 2023: 350 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Angola, Kenya, Botswana, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Type locality: “Eastern districts of the Cape Colony”. This locality is questioned by BROADLEY (1991) and others, who believes that the type might have been collected in the Northern Cape Province or the Western Transvaal.  
Reproductionegg-laying; Broadley 1959 reported intermediates between A. bibroni and rostrata. 
TypesSyntype: BMNH 1946.1.18.19
Syntypes: BMNH 1946.1.21.78–79 [rostrata] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (898 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Type species: Atractaspis inornatus SMITH 1849 is the type species of the genus Atractaspis SMITH 1849. Atracaspis is the type species of the subfamily Atractaspidinae GÜNTHER 1858.

Phylogenetics: See Portillo et al. 2019 for a phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Atractaspidinae.

Distribution: see Trape 2023: 350 for a map showing the distribution of both A. rostrata and A. katangae.

Key: Werner 1913 provides a key with characters for the species described until 1913 (plus a few other species now assigned to other genera).

Synonymy: Trape & Collect 2021, apparently based on the phylogenetic analysis of Portillo et al. 2019, revalidated A. katangae from the synonymy of bibronii. However, they barely provided any details such as revised diagnoses or distributions, hence we postpone this elevation. Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic name Hoseraspea Hoser 2012 invalid and rejected its use instead of Atractaspis.

Similar species: Similar in appearance to Elapsoidea but little stouter and usually pale below.

Habitat: burrowing. 
EtymologyNamed after Gabriel Bibron (1806-1848), French zoologist. 
References
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