| Higher Taxa | Lamprophiidae (Boaedontini), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Olive Ground Snake, Olive House Snake, Black House Snake
G: Schwarze Hausschlange |
| Synonym | Lamprophis inornatus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 434
Boodon infernalis GÜNTHER 1858: 199 (fide RASMUSSEN 1992)
Lamprophis inornatus — BOULENGER 1893: 321
Pachyophis temporalis WERNER 1924: 49 (fide SMITH 1928)
Lamprophis inornatus — BRANCH & BRANCH 1992
Lycodonomorphus inornatus — KELLY et al. 2011
Lycodonomorphus inornatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 405
Lycodonomorphus inornatus — KEATES et al. 2022
Lycodonomorphus inornatus — STANDER 2023: 280
Elaiophis inornatus — TIUTENKO et al. 2025 |
| Distribution | Republic of South Africa (W Cape Province, Natal, Transvaal, Eswatini (Swaziland))
Type locality: “environs du Cap de Bonne-Espérance” [= vicinities of the Cape of Good Hope]; neotype locality: “Cape: Haut’s Bay, Republic of South Africa” [= Hout Bay, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa, ca. 34°2’ S 18°21’ E].
Type locality (infernalis): restricted to Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, by Tiutenko et al. 2025.
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| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Neotype: ZFMK 032712, designated by Tiutenko et al. 2025.
Lectotype: NHMUK 1858.4.11.5, syntypes: NHMUK (1858.4.11.5, 1855.10.16.354,1855.10.16.434) [Boodon infernalis] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (Elaiophis): Body cylindric, moderately short. Head moderately depressed. Eye medium-sized to small. Tail short, representing ca. 12–15% of the total length. Head trapezoidal, broader posteriorly, moderately distinct from neck. Snout blunt, square-shaped. Rostral rather large, approximately as high as broad, well visible from below and above. Nasal divided. Eye medium-sized, with wide sub-elliptical pupil. Anterior chin shields equal in size to the posterior or slightly longer. Loreal single, rectangular, horizontally elongate. No labial pits. No loreal grooves. Dorsal scales with two apical pits, arranged in 23 rows at the middle of the body. Subcaudals paired. Anal entire. 18–19 maxillary, 10–11 palatine, 17–19 pterygoid, 20–23 mandibular teeth. No diastemata. Maxillary teeth subequal. Mandibular teeth 2–7 strongly enlarged. Hemipenis bilobal, shallowly forked; sulcus spermaticus centrifugal, dividing approximately half way up shaft. Dorsal colour olive-green, olive, dark brownish olive, glaucous, dark neutral grey. Ventral colour cream white, or pale neutral grey. (Tiutenko et al. 2025)
Additional details (1514 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy: The genus name Pachyophis is preoccupied.
Types: Boodon infernalis Günther, 1858, one Syntype: ZMB 4614 (Port Natal), others are in BMNH (see Boulenger 1893, Cat Snakes I: 330)
Habitat: strictly terrestrial, preferring mesic habitats including grassland, thicket and forest.
Type species: Lamprophis inornatus DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 434 is the type species of the genus Elaiophis TIUTENKO, MALIUK & KOCH 2025. |
| Etymology | Presumably named after the Latin inornatus (unadorned) in reference to the relatively plain coloration or scalation.
The genus is named after the Greek words ὄφις (snake) and ἐλαία (olive), following the local names ‘Olive Snake’ in English, or ’Olyfslang’ in Afrikaans. Since the head of the nominal compound (‘ophis’) is masculine, the new noun is of the same gender. |
| References |
- Bates, M. F. 1985. Notes on Egg Clutches in Lamprophis inornatus and Psammophylax rhombeatus rhombeatus. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (31): 21-22 - 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.
- Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - 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 W R 1984. The house snakes of southern Africa (genus Lamprophis). Litteratura Serpentium 4 (3-4): 106-120
- Branch W R; Branch R E 1992. Lamprophis inornatus Dumeril and Bibron. Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa 41: 38. - get paper here
- Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
- Broadley, D. G. 1969. The African House Snake - How Many Genera ? J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (5): 6-8 - get paper here
- Duméril, A.M.C., G. BIBRON & A.H.A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 7 (partie 1). Paris, xvi + 780 S. - get paper here
- Fitzsimons, V. 1966. A check-list, with syntopic keys, to the snakes of southern Africa. Annals Transvaal Museum 25 (3): 35-79 - get paper here
- Fraser M. 2023. Reptiles and Amphibians of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, Western Cape, South Africa. Biodiversity Observations 13: 162–185. 14 March 2023 - get paper here
- Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
- Günther, A. 1858. Catalogue of Colubrine snakes of the British Museum. London, I - XVI, 1 - 281 - get paper here
- Hallermann, J. 2007. The status of problematic snake types of the Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Reptilia, Serpentes). Mitt. Mus. Nat.kd. Berl., Zool. Reihe 83 (2): 160–165 - get paper here
- Hörold, R. 2018. Hausschlangen – versteckte Vielfalt. Reptilia 23 (129): 16-22
- Kelly, Christopher M.R.; William R. Branch, Donald G. Broadley, Nigel P. Barker, Martin H. Villet 2011. Molecular systematics of the African snake family Lamprophiidae Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes: Elapoidea), with particular focus on the genera Lamprophis Fitzinger 1843 and Mehelya Csiki 1903. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 58(3): 415-426 - get paper here
- Smith, M.A. 1928. The status of some recently described genera and species of snakes. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (10) 1: 494-496 - get paper here
- Stander, R.I. 2023. The Reptiles of the Limpopo Province and Kruger National Park. Herp Nomad, Polokwane, South Africa, 367 pp. - get paper here
- Tiutenko, A., A. Maliuk & C. Koch 2025. Generic affinities of African house snakes revised: a new genus for Lamprophis inornatus (Serpentes: Lamprophiidae: Lamprophiinae: Boaedontini). Salamandra 61 (2): 215-239
- Venter, Jan A.; Werner Conradie 2015. A checklist of the reptiles and amphibians found in protected areas along the South African Wild Coast, with notes on conservation implications. Koedoe 57 (1): 1-25. doi: 10.4102/koedoe.v57i1.1247 - 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.
- Wallach,V. 1988. Status and redescription of the genus Padangia Werner, with comparative visceral data on Collorhabdium Smedley and other genera (Serpentes: Colubridae). Amphibia-Reptilia 9: 61-76 - get paper here
- Werner, F. 1924. Neue oder wenig bekannte Schlangen aus dem Naturhistorischen Staatsmuseum in Wien. l. Teil. Sitzungsb. Ber. Akad. Wiss., Wien, Abt. l, 133: 29 - 56 - get paper here
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