Dasypeltis confusa TRAPE & MANÉ, 2006
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Dasypeltis confusa
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| Higher Taxa | Colubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Diamond-back Egg-eater, Confusing Egg Eater G: Westafrikanische Eierschlange |
| Synonym | Dasypeltis confusa TRAPE & MANÉ 2006 Dasypeltis confusa — PAUWELS & VENDE WEGHE 2008 Dasypeltis confusa — BATES 2013 Dasypeltis confusa — WALLACH et al. 2014: 210 Dasypeltis scabra scabra — LOVERIDGE 1955: 46 (not Linnaeus) Dasypeltis scabra — GANS 1959: 141 (part, ‘5L’) (not Linnaeus) Dasypeltis scabra — PITMAN 1974: 116 (part) Dasypeltis scabra — HUGHES, 1997: 68 (part) Dasypeltis scabra — BEHANGANA & GOODMAN 2002: 66 (part) Dasypeltis confusa — BATES & BROADLEY 2018: 13 Dasypeltis confusa — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 517 Dasylepis confusa — BRANCH 2018 (in error) |
| Distribution | South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Gabon, Cameroon, Togo, Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Angola Type locality: Ibel (12°31’N, 12°23’W), Sénégal oriental. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MNHN-RA 2006.0303 (formerly IRD S-3105), collected between March 1993 and February 1994 by a villager that give it to the authors; paratypes IRD (Daker, Senegal) and MNHN-RA 2006.0304-0307 |
| Diagnosis | Description. Dorsum grey or light brown with dar- ker markings, usually in the form of rhombic saddles (often diamond-shaped with sharpest points aligned antero-posteriorly) which are confluent with the la- teral bars (i.e. the ‘5L’ linked pattern of Gans 1959, Pl. VIII, Fig. 6); dark markings usually have a cream to white margin around them, emphasising the pattern; pattern cycles 50–79 (mean 61.7, N = 30); dorsal sad- dles are not always joined to the lateral bars, so that the dorsal pattern may be similar to that of D. scabra (‘5N’) over small portions of the back in some speci- mens. A few specimens from South Sudan (six of the 14 from Torit – see Gans 1959: 203) and Uganda (MCZ 47801, 47830, UMMZ 88530) are plain light brown dorsally. Venter cream-white, often with grey stippling at the edges. Preoculars one on either side of head (N = 40); post- oculars usually two on either side of head, but only one on left side in FMNH 62216 (N = 45); frontal shield for the most part smooth, usually with 1–2 rows of shallow pits at the edges (States 1–2), but occasionally completely smooth and without pits (State 0) (ZMB 56436, UMMZ 88529) (N = 38); inter-prefrontal su- ture usually weakly marked, but moderately marked in 21.7% of specimens, and well marked (deep) in BM 1954.1.12.9 (N = 23); supralabials 11–14, usually 14 (both sides of head), usually 7[3rd and 4th enter- ing orbit] on either side of head, but variations are: 6[2,3] (BM 1954.1.12.8), 6[3,4] on left side of head (FMNH 58336), and 6[3,4] on left and 5[3] on right (ZMB 77441) (N = 42); anterior temporals usually two on either side of head (95.3%), but 1 left: 2 right in BM 1954.1.12.8 and 2: 1 in BM 1954.1.12.9 (N = 43); posterior temporals usually three on either side of head (62.8%), two in NMW 9964–7, occasionally 3:4 or 4:3 (11.6%), four (11.6%), 2:3 or 3:2 (9.3%), and five in MCZ 47815 (N = 43); temporal formula on either side of head usually 2+3, often 2+4; midbody scale rows 23–27 (mean 25.0 ± 1.03, N = 40); ventrals 199–224 in males (N = 14), 212–239 in females (N = 30); subcaudals 51–67 in males (N = 12), 48–61 in females (N = 24). Ratio SVL: tail length 4.7–5.8 in males (N = 12), 4.9–7.5 in females (N = 20); total length: tail length 5.7–6.8 in males (N = 12), 5.9–8.5 in females (N = 20). |
| Comment | Synonymy: after BATES & BROADLEY 2018. Description of holotype: for French description see TRAPE & MANÉ 2006. Description des autres spécimens: Les 32 spécimens de Guinée et du Bénin se répartissent en 11 mâles, 15 femelles et 6 spécimens mutilés. Le plus grand mâle mesure 540 mm, la plus grande femelle 742 mm. La longueur moyenne des mâles est de 393 mm (écart-type : ± 102 mm), celle des femelles est de 498 mm (écart-type : ± 183 mm). Le rapport LT/LQ varie de 5,6 à 6,3 chez les mâles (moyenne : 5,9 ; écart-type : ± 0,3) et de 6,8 à 7,8 chez les femelles (moyenne : 7,2 ; écart-type : ±0,3). Le nombre de rangs dorsaux varie de 23 à 25 chez les mâles (moyenne : 24,6) et de 24 à 26 chez les femelles (moyenne : 25,0). Le nombre de ventrales varie de 213 à 223 chez les mâles (moyenne : 218,4 ; écart-type : ± 3,3) et de 224 à 236 chez les femelles (moyenne : 230,7 ; écart-type : ± 3,7). Le nombre de sous-caudales varie de 66 à 73 chez les mâles (moyenne : 68,6 ; écart-type : ± 2,4) et de 56 à 64 chez les femelles (moyenne : 59,3 ; écart-type : ± 2,4). La nasale est toujours semi-divisée. Les autres caractéristiques de l’écaillure de ces spécimens et leur coloration sont similaires à celles des exemplaires du Sénégal [from TRAPE & MANÉ 2006]. Distribution: see map in GÖTHEL 2015: 19. Habitat. Found in savannah at elevations of 500 m to 1200 m. Sympatry. Sympatric with D. atra 10 km S of Juba (South Sudan), Busingiro and Gulu (Uganda) and Kacheliba (Kenya); sympatric with D. scabra at Lake Kivu (Rwanda) (BATES & BROADLEY 2018). Mimicry. The dorsal pattern of D. confusa closely resembles that of the night adders Causus rhombeatus (Lichtenstein), C. bilineatus Boulenger, C. defilippii (Jan) and C. maculatus (Hallowell) which all occur in north-eastern Africa (Spawls et al. 2002; Rasmussen 2005; Dobiey & Vogel 2007). |
| Etymology | named for the fact that it has been confused with other Dasypeltis species previously. |
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