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Philothamnus macrops (BOULENGER, 1895)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Large-eyed Green Snake, Usambara Green Snake 
SynonymOligolepis macrops BOULENGER 1895: 171
Chlorophis macrops — STERNFELD 1908: 95
Chlorophis macrops — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1928
Philothamnus macrops — LOVERIDGE 1957: 260
Philothamnus macrops — RASMUSSEN 1981: 176
Philothamnus macrops — HUGHES 1985
Philothamnus macrops — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 30
Philothamnus macrops — MENEGON et al. 2003
Philothamnus macrops — WALLACH et al. 2014: 557
Philothamnus macrops — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 491 
DistributionE Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique

Type locality: Usambara Mountains, Tanzania.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.1.10.32 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Readily distinguished by its combination of 13 body scale rows, low (135-146) ventral counts, and only upper labials reaching the eye. (Hughes 1985)

Description: Preoculars 1, rarely 2; postoculars 2; temporals 1+1,1+2(or 2+2 fide Sternfeld); upper labials 8, occa- sionally 9, the fourth and fifth (or fourth, fifth and sixth, fide Sternfeld) or fifth and sixth entering the orbit; lower labials 8-12, the first 4, 5 or 6 in contact with the anterior sublinguals. Midbody scale-rows 13, rarely 11; ventrals 135-148 (males 135- 146; females 135-148) ; anal divided, rarely entire (M.C.Z. 23236 and some Zanzibar snakes only) ; subcaudals 74-97 (females 74-88 ; males 84-97). (LOVERIDGE 1958: 58)


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CommentDiet: frogs, lizards

Habitat. In bushes fringing the forest and along the borders of nearby streams. Reported from a rice field in Zanzibar by Pakenham.

Distribution: see Branch et al. 2019 (Fig. 1) for a map and localities in Tanzania and Mozambique. 
References
  • Barbour, T. & LOVERIDGE.A. 1928. A comparative study of the herpetological fauna of the Uluguru and Usambara mountains, Tanzania Territory with descriptions of new species. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool. Cambridge (Massachusetts), 50 (2): 85-265 - get paper here
  • Bittencourt-Silva GB, Bayliss J, Conradie W. 2020. First herpetological surveys of Mount Lico and Mount Socone, Mozambique. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 14(2) [General Section]: 198–217 (e247) - get paper here
  • Boulenger,G.A. 1895. Descriptions of two new snakes from Usambara, German East Africa. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 16: 171-173 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R.;, Luke Verburgt, Julian Bayliss, Christoph Kucharzewski, Mark-Oliver Rödel, and Werner Conradie 2019. New records of the Large-eyed Green Snake, Philothamnus macrops (Boulenger 1895), from Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 12: 19-29 - 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
  • Engelbrecht, H.M., Branch, W.R., Greenbaum, E., Alexander, G.J., Jackson, K., Burger, M., Conradie, W., Kusamba, C., Zassi-Boulou, A-G., Tolley, K.A. 2018. Diversifying into the branches: species boundaries in African green and bush snakes, Philothamnus (Serpentes: Colubridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 357-365 - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. 1985. Progress on a taxonomic revision of African green tree snakes (Philothamnus spp.). In: Schuchmann, K.L. (ed.) Proceedings of the International Symposium on African Vertebrates. ZFMK, Bonn, pp. 511-530
  • Loveridge,A. 1958. Revision of five african snake genera. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 119: 1-198 (141) - get paper here
  • Lyakurwa, J.V., Howell, K.M., Munishi, L.K., Treydte, A.C. 2019. Uzungwa Scarp Nature Forest Reserve; a unique hotspot for reptiles in Tanzania. Acta Herpetologica 14 (1): 3-14 - get paper here
  • Lyakurwa, John Valentine 2017. The Reptiles of the Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve (USFR): An Updated Checklist with Notes on Dagger-Tooth Vine Snake Xyelodontophis uluguruensis. Journal of East African Natural History 106(2):57-65. - 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
  • Menegon, Michele, Sebastiano Salvidio and David Moyer 2003. Reptiles and Amphibians of Nguu North Forest Reserve, Tanzania: A first contribution. African Herp News (36):2-8. - 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
  • Rovero, F., Menegon, M., Fjeldså, J., Collett, L., Doggart, N., Leonard, C., Norton, G., Owen, N., Perkin, A., Spitale, D., Ahrends, A., Burgess, N. D. 2014. Targeted vertebrate surveys enhance the faunal importance and improve explanatory models within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania. Diversity and Distributions. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12246 - 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, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - 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.
 
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