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Polemon gabonensis (DUMÉRIL, 1856)

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Higher TaxaAtractaspididae (Aparallactinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesPolemon gabonensis gabonensis (DUMÉRIL 1856)
Polemon gabonensis schmidti (WITTE & LAURENT 1947) 
Common NamesE: Gaboon Snake-eater 
SynonymMiodon gabonensis (DUMÉRIL 1856)
Elapomorphus gabonensis DUMÉRIL 1856
Elapomorphus (Urobelus) gabonicus — JAN 1865
Elapomorphus coecutiens — GÜNTHER 1888
Miodon gabonensis — WERNER 1897
Miodon gabonensis — STERNFELD 1917
Miodon gabonensis — LOVERIDGE 1936: 40
Miodon gabonensis gabonensis — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947: 64
Miodon gabonensis — HELLMICH 1957: 72
Miodon gabonensis gabonensis — PERRET 1961
Polemon gabonensis gabonensis — WELCH 1994: 99
Polemon (Miodon) gabonensis — LERETON 1999
Polemon gabonensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 573
Polemon gabonensis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 464

Polemon gabonensis schmidti (WITTE & LAURENT 1947)
Miodon gabonensis — SCHMIDT 1923: 118
Miodon gabonensis schmidti DE WITTE & LAURENT 1947: 66
Miodon gabonensis schmidti — LAURENT 1958: 122
Polemon gabonensis schmidti — HUGHES & BARRY 1969
Polemon gabonensis schmidti — WELCH 1994: 99 
DistributionW/C/E Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Cameroon, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville) ?,
Angola (Hellmich 1957)

gabonensis: Rio Muni, Cameroon

schmidti: Zaire; Type locality: Gaboon, West Africa.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesTypes: BMNH 1946.1.3.4-5 (and possibly additional specimens).
Holotype: RMCA (= MRAC = RGMC) 10545, male [schmidti] 
Diagnosis 
CommentVenomous!

Distribution: Not listed for Togo by Segniagbeto et al. 2012. Probably occurs in the Congo too (TRAPE & ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995). Not recorded from Gabon fide PAUWELS & VANDE WEGHE 2008 but its presence is possible based on records in neighboring countries. Not in Benin fide ULLENBRUCH et al. 2010. Has been erroneously listed for Benin but does not occur there (Hughes 2013). P. g. schmidti may or may not be in present day Gabon and it’s unclear where the type was collected (O. Pauwels, pers. comm., 25 Apr 2019). 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Andersson, L.G. 1901. Some new species of snakes from Cameroon and South America, belonging to the collections of the Royal Museum in Stockholm. Bihang till Kongliga Svenska Vet. Akad. Handlingar 27 (4): 1-26 - get paper here
  • Chifundera, K. 1990. Snakes of Zaire and their bites. Afr. Stud. Monogr. (Kyoto) 10(3): 137-157.
  • Chippaux, Jean-Philippe & Kate Jackson 2019. Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Johns Hopkins University Press, 448 pp. [detaileld review in HR 51 (1): 161] - get paper here
  • Chirio, L. & Lebreton, M. 2007. Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. MNHN, IRD, Paris 688 pp.
  • Duméril, A.H.A. 1856. Note sur les reptiles du Gabon. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris, (2) 8: 369-377, 417–424, 460–470, 553–562 - get paper here
  • Günther,A. 1888. Contribution to the knowledge of snakes of tropical Africa. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 1: 322-335 - get paper here
  • Hellmich, W. 1957. Herpetologische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise in Angola. Veröff. Zool. Staatssammlung München 5: 1-91 - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. 1983. African snake faunas. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 34: 311-356 - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. & Barry,D.H. 1969. The snakes of Ghana: a checklist and key. Bull. Inst. Franc. Afrique Noire A, 31: 1004-1041
  • Jan, G. 1866. Iconographie générale des ophidiens. 15. Livraison. J.B. Bailière et Fils, Paris - get paper here
  • LeBreton, Matthew 1999. A working checklist of the herpetofauna of Cameroon. Netherlands Committee for IUCN, 160 pp.
  • Loveridge, A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 - get paper here
  • Perret, J.L. 1961. Études herpétologiques africaines III. 1. La faune ophidienne de la région camerounaise. Bull. Soc. neuchâtel. Sci. nat., 84: 133-138
  • Schmidt, K. P. 1923. Contributions to the herpetology of the Belgian Congo based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition, 1909-1915. Part II. Snakes, with field notes by Herbert Lang and James P. Chapin. Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist. 49 (1): 1-146 - get paper here
  • Sinsin B, Bergmans W(eds) 1999. Rongeurs, ophidiens et relations avec l’environnement agricole du Bénin. Cotonou (Éd. Flamboyant), 199 pp.
  • 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
  • Sternfeld, R. 1917. Reptilia und Amphibia. In: Schubotz, H. (Hrsg.): Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Zweiten Deutschen Zentral-Afrika-Expedition, 1910-1911 unter Führung Adolph Friedrichs, Herzog zu Mecklenburg. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, [Band] 1, Zoologie, Lieferung 11; S. 407-510. - get paper here
  • Trape, J.F. & R. ROUX-ESTÈVE 1995. Les serpents du Congo: liste commentée et clé de détermination. Journal of African Zoology 109 (1): 31-50
  • TRAPE, JEAN-FRANÇOIS & CELLOU BALDÉ 2014. A checklist of the snake fauna of Guinea, with taxonomic changes in the genera Philothamnus and Dipsadoboa (Colubridae) and a comparison with the snake fauna of some other West African countries. Zootaxa 3900 (3): 301–338 - 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.
  • Werner, F. 1897. Über Reptilien und Batrachier aus Togoland, Kamerun und Tunis aus dem Kgl. Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges., Wien 47: 395-407 - get paper here
  • Werner, F. 1899. Ueber Reptilien und Batrachier aus Togoland, Kamerun und Deutsch-Neu-Guinea grösstentheils aus dem k. Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 49: 132-157 - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de 1933. Reptiles récoltés au Conge Belge par le Dr. H. Schouteden et par M. G.-F. Witte. Ann. Mus. Conge belge Zool. Ser. 1 Tome III: 53-100.
  • Witte, G. F. de & LAURENT,R.F. 1947. Revision d'un groupe de Colubridae africains: genres Calamelaps, Miodon, Aparallactus, et formes affines. Mém. Mus. Roy. Hist. Nat. Belgique (sér. 2) 29: 1-134
 
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