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Eryx colubrinus (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Eryx colubrinus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaBoidae (Erycinae, Erycidae), Henophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesEryx colubrinus colubrinus (LINNAEUS 1758)
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei STULL 1932 
Common NamesE: Sand Boa
G: (Ostafrikanische) Sandboa (loveridgei: Kenia-Sandboa) 
SynonymAnguis colubrina LINNAEUS 1758: 228
Eryx thebaicus REUSS 1834: 134
Eryx Thebaicus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1844: 468
Eryx thebaicus — JAN 1864
Eryx jaculus — PARENTI & PICAGLIA 1886
Gongylophis thebaicus — BOULENGER 1892: 76
Eryx thebaicus — BOULENGER 1893: 125
Eryx thebaicus — BOULENGER 1896
Eryx loveridgei STULL 1932
Eryx thebaicus — SCORTECCI 1932
Eryx rufescens AHL 1933
Eryx colubrinus — SOCHUREK 1979
Eryx colubrinus colubrinus — GASPERETTI 1988: 207
Eryx (Neogongylophis) colubrinus — TOKAR 1989: 54
Gongylophis colubrinus — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 210
Gongylophis colubrinus rufescens — JONES 2004
Eryx colubrinus — LANZA & NISTRI 2005
Gongylophis colubrinus — GRUBER 2009
Eryx colubrinus — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 450
Eryx colubrinus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 287
Eryx colubrinus — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 376

Eryx colubrinus loveridgei STULL 1932
Eryx thebaicus loveridgei STULL 1932: 29
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — SCORTECCI 1939: 267
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — BOGERT 1942
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 22
Eryx colubrinus loveridgei — JONES 2004 
DistributionEgypt, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Chad ?, Niger ?, Tanzania, Somalia

Middle East: Yemen ?

loveridgei: Arid areas of Kenya and NE Tanzania at Kahe and Msembe near Ruaha National Park. Type locality: Mbunyuni, Kenya

Type locality: “Aegypto”  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesType: lost (presumed) (LANZA & NISTRI 2005, Reynolds & Henderson 2018)
Holotype: MCZ 18184, collected by Mr. A. Loveridge; paratypes: MCZ, AMNH [loveridgei] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 2076 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: Not in Libya fide Bauer et al. 2017. Sindaco et al. 2013 have a question mark for Yemen, as there seem to be no confirmed records. For a map see Sindaco et al. 2013.

Subspecies: Reynolds & Henderson 2018 do not recognize any subspecies, following Tokar’s 1996 recommendation, who found that diagnostic characters of this subspecies are clinal. However, the issue is not entirely settled (Lynch & Wagner 2010).

Behavior: FLOWER (1933: 804) mentioned that the snake is vicious, apt to bite anyone putting a hand near it. ANDERSON (1898: 236) said "They are very gentle in their disposition and seldom attempt to bite." 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin colubrinus (masculine adjective; feminine: colubrina; neuter: colubrinum): having the qualities of a snake.

E. c. loveridgei was named after Arthur Loveridge (1891-1980), American herpetologist. 
References
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