You are here » home search results Atractaspis bibronii

Atractaspis bibronii SMITH, 1849

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Atractaspis bibronii?

Add your own observation of
Atractaspis bibronii »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

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
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • 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.
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boettger, O. 1887. Zweiter Beitrag zur Herpetologie Südwest- und Südafrikas. Ber. senckenb. naturf. Ges., Frankfurt am Main, 1887:135-173 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1901. Materiaux pour la faune du Congo. Batraciens et reptiles nouveaux. Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Zool. (sect. C. ser. 1) 2: 7-14.
  • 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
  • BOURQUIN, O. & V. GRUENER 2017. A NOTE ON THE HERPETOFAUNA OF MODISA CAMP (BOTSWANA) AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. African Herp News (64): 9-26 - get paper here
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Branch, William R. & Bauer, Aaron M. 2005. The herpetological contributions of Sir Andrew Smith. SSAR, 80 pp.
  • Broadley, D. & Blaylock 2013. The Snakes of Zimbabwe and Botswana. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 387 pp. [book review in Sauria 35 (2): 59 and Copeia 2014: 388] - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1959. The herpetology of Southern Rhodesia. Part I--the snakes. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 120 (1): 1-100 [reprint 1972] - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
  • Broadley, D.G. 1963. Notes on the ecology of Atractaspis bibronii. J. Herp. Assoc. Rhodesia 21: 5 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1991. A review of the southern African stiletto snakes of the genus Atractaspis A.Smith (Serpentes: Atractaspididae). Arnoldia 9 (36): 495-517
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Broadley, D.G.; Doria, C.T. & Wigge, J. 2003. Snakes of Zambia. An Atlas and Field Guide. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 280 pp. [review in Sauria 26 (3): 21]
  • Broadley, Donald G. and F. P. D. Cotterill. 2004. The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot'. [Congo]. African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35-61. - get paper here
  • Buruwate, T. C., & Lloyd-Jones, D. J. 2024. Amphibian and Reptile Diversity of Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique. Journal of East African Natural History, 113(1), 1-18 - get paper here
  • Chifundera, K. 1990. Snakes of Zaire and their bites. Afr. Stud. Monogr. (Kyoto) 10(3): 137-157.
  • Chippaux, Jean-Philippe & Kate Jackson 2019. Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Johns Hopkins University Press, 448 pp. [detaileld review in HR 51 (1): 161] - get paper here
  • Dobiey, M. & Vogel, G. 2007. Venomous Snakes of Africa - Giftschlangen Afrikas. Edition Chimaira, Terralog 15, 150 pp. - get paper here
  • 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
  • Farooq, Harith; Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo, Bibiana Nassongole, Werner Conradie, Roger Bills, Amadeu Soares, and Alexandre Antonelli 2022. Shedding Light on a Biodiversity Dark Spot: Survey Of Amphibians and Reptiles of Pemba Region in Northern Mozambique. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 17 (2): - 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
  • Günther, A. 1858. Catalogue of Colubrine snakes of the British Museum. London, I - XVI, 1 - 281 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1868. Sixth account of new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 1: 413-429 - get paper here
  • Haagner,G.V.; Branch,W.R. & Haagner,A.J.F. 2000. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Zambia and adjacent areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Annals of the Eastern Cape Museum 1: 1 – 25
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hoser, R. 2012. A reassessment of the Burrowing Asps, Atractaspis Smith, 1849 with the erection of a new genus and two Tribes (Serpentes: Atractaspidae). Australasian J. Herpetol. 11: 56-58 - get paper here
  • HUGHES, B. 2018. THE SNAKES OF DODOMA. African Herp News (67): 8 - get paper here
  • Jacobsen, Niels H.G.; Errol W. Pietersen & Darren W. Pietersen 2010. A preliminary herpetological survey of the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula, Vilankulo, Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 3: 181-193
  • Kaiser, H.; Crother, B.I.; Kelly, C.M.R.; Luiselli, L.; O’Shea, M.; Ota, H.; Passos, P.; Schleip, W.D. & Wüster, W. 2013. Best Practices: In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer-Review. Herpetological Review 44 (1): 8-23
  • Lanza, B. 1983. A list of the Somali amphibians and reptiles. MONITORE ZOOLOGICO ITALIANO, new Ser., SUPPL. 18 (8): 193-247 - get paper here
  • Lanza, B. 1990. Amphibians and reptiles of the Somali Democratic Republic: check list and biogeography. Biogeographia, 14: 407-465 [1988] - get paper here
  • Laurent, R.F. 1945. Contribution a la connaissance du Genre Atractaspis A. Smith. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 38: 312-343
  • Laurent, R.F. 1950. Revision du genre Atractaspis A. SMITH. Mem. Inst. Roy. nat. Belg. (2) 38: 1-49
  • Laurent,R.F. 1950. Reptiles et Batraciens de la région de Dundo (Angola du Nord-Est). Première note. Publ. cult. Co. Diam. Angola 10: 7-17
  • Loveridge, A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, Arthur 1929. East African reptiles and amphibians in the United States National Museum. Bull. US Natl. Mus. (151): 1-135 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • MARAIS, J. 2010. Atractaspis bibronii (Smith, 1849) Diet. African Herp News (52): 9 - 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)
  • Mitchell, B.L. 1950. Some reptiles and amphibians of Nyasaland. The Nyasaland Journal 3 (2): 46-57 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren W. Pietersen, Errol W. Haacke, Wulf D. 2013. First herpetological appraisal of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Gaza Province, southern Mozambique. Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 3: 153-163 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Portillo F, Stanley EL, Branch WR, Conradie W, Rödel M-O, Penner J, et al. 2019. Evolutionary history of burrowing asps (Lamprophiidae: Atractaspidinae) with emphasis on fang evolution and prey selection. PLoS ONE 14(4): e0214889 - get paper here
  • Rasmussen,J.B. 1981. The snakes from the rainforest of the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania: a checklist and key. Salamandra 17 (3-4): 173-188 - get paper here
  • Rödel M, Kucharzewski C, Mahlow K, Chirio L, Pauwels OSG, Carlino P, Sambolah G, Glos J 2019. A new stiletto snake (Lamprophiidae, Atractaspidinae, Atractaspis) from Liberia and Guinea, West Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 95(1): 107-123 - get paper here
  • SANTOS, B. S. .,MARQUES, M. P. ., BAUER, A. M. ., & CERÍACO, L. M. P. . 2021. Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903–1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection. Zootaxa 5028 (1): 1–80 - get paper here
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2015. Reptilien Namibias. Namibia Scientific  Society, 276 pp.
  • Schleicher, Alfred 2020. Reptiles of Namibia. Kuiseb Publishers, Windhoek, Namibia, 271 pp.
  • Seung Hoon, Cha 2012. Snake, the world most beautifull curve [in Korean]. Hownext, 304 pp. [ISBN 978-89-965656-7-3] - get paper here
  • Smith, A. 1849. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 3 (Reptiles). Smith, Elder, and Co., London [facsimile published by Winchester Press, Johannesburg, 1977] - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1910. Zur Schlangenfauna Deutsch-Südwestafrikas. Mehrere Fälle von Mimikry bei afrikanischen Schlangen. Mitt. zool. Mus. Berlin, 5: 51-60 - get paper here
  • Tolley KA, Telford NS, Makhubo BG, Power RJ, Alexander GJ 2023. Filling the gap: Noteworthy herpetological discoveries in North West Province, South Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 99(1): 101-116 - get paper here
  • Trape, J.-F. 2023. Guide des serpents d’Afrique occidentale, centrale et d’Afrique du Nord. IRD Éditions, Marseille, 896 pp.
  • TRAPE, Jean-François & Marcel COLLET 2021. Nouvelles données sur les serpents du sud-est du Katanga (République démocratique du Congo). Bull. Soc. Herp. Fr. (2021) 179 | 11-26 - get paper here
  • Vats, Rajeev; Ignas Safari 2014. Diversity of Snakes at the University of Dodoma Campus, Tanzania. American Journal of Zoological Research, 2 (3): 41-45 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Werner, F. 1913. Neue oder seltene Reptilien und Frösche des Naturhistorischen Museums in Hamburg. Reptilien der Ostafrika-Expedition der Hamburger Geographischen Gesellschaft 1911/12. Leiter: Dr. E. Obst. Reptilien und Amphibien von Formosa. [these are 3 separate re Jb. Hamb. wiss. Anst., 30 [1912], 2. Beiheft: 1-39, 40-45, 45-51 - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de 1933. Reptiles récoltés au Conge Belge par le Dr. H. Schouteden et par M. G.-F. Witte. Ann. Mus. Conge belge Zool. Ser. 1 Tome III: 53-100.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Atractaspis&species=bibronii

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator