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Mehelya poensis (SMITH, 1849)

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Higher TaxaLamprophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Western Forest File Snake 
SynonymHeterolepis poensis SMITH 1849: 55
Heterolepis bicarinatus DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 422
Simocephalus poensis – GÜNTHER 1863: 360
Heterolepis bicarinatus — BOCAGE 1866: 49
Heterolepis poensis — REICHENOW 1874: 291
Heterolepis poënsis — BOETTGER 1889: 279
Heterolepis poensis – BOULENGER 1891: 344
Simocephalus poensis – BOULENGER 1893: 346
Simocephalus poënsis — WERNER 1899
Grobbenia poënsis — POCHE 1903
Siebenrockia poënsis — POCHE 1904
Mehelya poensis – LÖNNBERG 1910
Mehelya poensis — SCHMIDT 1923: 72
Simocephalus poensis — WITTE 1933
Mehelya poensis — LOVERIDGE 1939:144
Mehelya poensis — PITMAN 1974
Mehelya poensis — RÖDEL & MAHSBERG 2000: 29
Gonionotophis poensis — KELLY et al. 2011
Mehelya poensis — BÖHME et al. 2011
Mehelya poensis — SEGNIAGBETO et al. 2012: 344
Mehelya poensis — HUGHES 2013
Mehelya poensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 425
Mehelya poensis — TRAPE & BALDÉ 2014
Gonionotophis poensis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 410
Mehelya poensis — BROADLEY et al. 2018
Mehelya poensis — MARQUES et al. 2018
Gonionotophis poensis — CHIPPAUX & JACKSON 2019: 217
Gonionotophis poensis — SENTER & CHIPPAUX 2022 
DistributionGuinea (Conakry), Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin ?, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire, except in the west), Congo (Brazzaville), Uganda, Angola, Gabon (Pauwels et al. 2006), Liberia, Republic of South Sudan (RSS)

Type locality: “Bioko” = Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.14.20 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1629 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: For a map with localities in Equatorial Guinea see SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022. Not reported from Benin according to ULLENBRUCH et al. 2010.

Type species: Heterolepis poensis SMITH 1849: 55 is the type species of the genus Mehelya CSIKI 1903.

Phylogenetics: Broadley et al. 2018 included 5 species in Mehelya, although they had only DNA data for M. poensis and stenophthalmus, hence the other 3 are included provisionally, namely M. egbensis, gabouensis, and laurenti. Note that M. egbensis and gabouensis do not fit their generic diagnosis. 
References
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