Psammophis afroccidentalis TRAPE, BÖHME & MEDIANNIKOV, 2019
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Psammophis afroccidentalis
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| Higher Taxa | Psammophiidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: West-African Whip Snake F: Psammophis ouest-africain G: Westafrikanische Sandrennnatter |
| Synonym | Psammophis afroccidentalis TRAPE, BÖHME & MEDIANNIKOV in TRAPE et al. 2019 Psammophis sibilans — BOETTGER 1881: 395 (not Linnaeus) Psammophis sibilans — BOULENGER 1896: 161 (part) Psammophis sibilans — BOULENGER 1906: 214 Psammophis sibilans — STERNFELD 1908: 412 Psammophis sibilans — CHABANAUD 1918: 165 Psammophis sibilans — ANGEL 1933: 69 Psammophis sibilans — ANGEL 1933: 162, fig. 61 Psammophis sibilans — ANDERSSON 1937: 8 Psammophis sibilans — CANSDALE 1949: 106 Psammophis sibilans — HUGHES & BARRY 1969: 1023 Psammophis trinasalis — CHABANAUD 1918: 166 (Senegal) (not Werner) Psammophis sibilans sibilans — LOVERIDGE 1940: 30 (part) (not Linnaeus) Psammophis sibilans sibilans — LESTON 1950: 84 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1950: 93 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1951: 827 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1952: 892 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1953: 1119 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1954: 1242 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1956: 880 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1956: 158 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1963: 1372 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — VILLIERS 1975: 138 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — CONDAMIN 1958: 255 Psammophis sibilans sibilans — DOUCET 1963: 306 Psammophis phillipsii — BÖHME 1978: 398, Fig. 16, 17 (right) (not Hallowell) Psammophis rukwae — BÖHME 1978: 401 (not Broadley) Psammophis sibilans — ROMAN 1980: 61 Psammophis cf. rukwae — JOGER, 1981: 332 (not Broadley) Psammophis cf. rukwae — JOGER 1982: 332 Psammophis sibilans — HUGHES 1983: 353 (part) Psammophis cf. phillipsii — SCHÄTTI 1986: 771 (not Hallowell) Psammophis rukwae — BÖHME 1987: 259 Psammophis cf. rukwae — GRUSCHWITZ et al. 1991: 30 Psammophis cf. phillipsii — RÖDEL et al. 1995: 7 Psammophis rukwae — BRANDSTÄTTER 1995: 151 (part) Psammophis cf. phillipsii — BÖHME et al. 1996: 21 Psammophis cf. phillipsii — RÖDEL 1999: 170 Psammophis phillipsii — BÖHME 2000: 71 Psammophis sibilans — CHIPPAUX 2006: 175 (part) Psammophis sibilans — TRAPE & MANÉ 2000: 26 Psammophis sibilans — TRAPE & MANÉ 2002: 149; 2004: 21 Psammophis sibilans — TRAPE & MANÉ 2015: 45 Psammophis sibilans — VILLIERS & CONDAMIN 2005: 144 Psammophis sibilans — AULIYA et al., 2012: 280 Psammophis rukwae — CHIRIO 2009: 30 Psammophis cf. phillipsii — ULLENBRUCH et al., 2010: 43. Psammophis sudanensis — ULLENBRUCH et al., 2010: 44 (not Werner) Psammophis sudanensis — CHIRIO 2012: 83. Psammophis sibilans — HUGHES 2012: 123; 125 (ZFMK 29365) Psammophis sibilans — CHIRIO 2012: 83; Psammophis sibilans — TRAPE & Baldé 2014: 317. Psammophis aff. sibilans — TRAPE & MANÉ 2017: 120 (not Linnaeus) |
| Distribution | Mauritania (northernmost record: Tidra island 19°44’N, 16°24’W), Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Mali (northenmost record: Tinjemban 16°44’N, 02°50’W and along the Niger River), Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger (northernmost record: Azzel 17°03’N, 08°03’E), Nigeria and Chad (Mao). Possibly a relict population in southern Algeria (ZFMK 29365 from 200 km north of Tamanrasset, a damaged specimen previously assigned to P. rukwae by Böhme 1986 and to P. sibilans by Hughes 2012). Type locality: Dakar Hann, Senegal (14°43’N, 17°26’W) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. MNHN-RA 2018.0013 (formerly IRD 7631.S, a male collected by J.-F. Trape on December 10th, 2005 (Figs. 13 & 14). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Distinguishable from other species of the P. sibilans group by the combination of the following characters: 17 scale rows around midbody, 156–185 ven- trals, 96–120 subcaudals (rarely less than 100), cloacal divided, 5 infralabials in contact with anterior sublin- guals (very rarely 4). Dorsum pale brown, dark brown or greenish-brown, rarely uniform, usually a vertebral chain with the scale of vertebral row paler at base, but this chain often restricted to part of the dorsum, ill-de- fined and occasionally totally absent; pale dorsolateral stripes on the 4th row of dorsals, but often ill-defined or absent; top of head with a pale median stripe on the snout which forks when reaching the frontal and then borders the frontal, but often ill defined or absent in adults. Ge- netically diagnosable through possession of unique mi- tochondrial haplotypes. Psammophis afroccidentalis sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. rukwae by a higher number of subcaudals (P. rukwae 70–100, exceptionnaly up to 105), from P. sibilans by major differences in mi- tochondrial haplotypes, a pale median stripe that borders the frontal (not bordering the frontal in P. sibilans) and a more uniform dorsal colouration in most specimens, from P. schokari and P. aegyptius by a lower number of subralabials (8 versus 9) and a different head pattern, and from P. sudanensis, P. phillipsi, P. occidentalis, P. mos- sambicus, P. leopardinus, P. zambiensis and P. subtae- niatus by a higher number of infralabials in contact with the anterior sublinguals (5 versus 4) and by different head and dorsal patterns. (Trape 2019: 68) Unfortunately 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 67 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonym after Trape et al. 2019. See this paper for references. Habitat. Sahel and Sudan savanna in West Africa. Penetrates in Guinea savanna and relict populations in sahelo-saharan wetlands. |
| Etymology | Named after the contraction of Africa and occidentalis, Latin for western, referring to the region of Africa where this species is distributed. |
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