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Thelotornis capensis SMITH, 1849

IUCN Red List - Thelotornis capensis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesThelotornis capensis capensis (SMITH 1849)
Thelotornis capensis oatesi (GÜNTHER 1881) 
Common NamesE: Southern Twig Snake, Savanna Vine Snake, Twig Snake, Vine Snake
oatesi: Oates' Vine Snake 
SynonymThelotornis capensis capensis SMITH 1849
Thelotornis Capensis SMITH 1849
Thelotornis kirtlandi capensis SMITH 1849: 19
Thelotornis kirtlandii capensis — LOVERIDGE 1957
Thelotornis capensis capensis — BROADLEY 1959
Thelotornis capensis schilsi DERLEYN 1978
Thelotornis capensis capensis — BOYCOTT 1992
Thelotornis capensis capensis — AUERBACH 1987: 188
Thelotornis capensis — BROADLEY et al. 2003: 226
Thelotornis capensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 728
Thelotornis capensis capensis — BATES et al. 2014: 423
Thelotornis capensis — PIETERSEN et al. 2021
Thelotornis capensis capensis — STANDER 2023: 318

Thelotornis capensis oatesi (GÜNTHER 1881)
Dryiophis oatesi GÜNTHER 1881: 330
Thelotornis kirtlandii oatesi — BROADLEY 1959
Thelotornis kirtlandii oatesi — BROADLEY 1962
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — AUERBACH 1987: 189
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — BROADLEY 1991: 533
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — BAUER et al. 1993
Thelotornis oatesi — HAAGNER et al. 2000
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — BROADLEY 2001
Thelotornis capensis oatseii — CONRADIE et al. 2016 (in error)
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — SCHLEICHER 2015: 197
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — MARQUES et al. 2018
Thelotornis capensis oatesi — CONRADIE et al. 2021 
DistributionNamibia, Botswana, NE Republic of South Africa (Eastern Cape), Eswatini (Swaziland), S Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, SE Angola, S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

oatesi: Angola, Namibia, Zaire, N Botswana, N Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Katanga); Type locality: “Matabeland, Rhodesia”

Type locality: “Kaffirland and the country toward Port Natal”  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: unlocated (not in RSM or BMNH fide FitzSimons, 1937: 274).
Holotype: RMCA (= MRAC) (Musée de Tervuren) [schilsi]
Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.9.76 [oatesi] 
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 1409 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: Thelotornis capensis schilsi DERLEYN 1978 has not been recognized by subsequent authors. Broadley 2001 states that it “is known from only a few specimens and differs from T. c. mossambicanus only in its shorter tail and consequently lower subcaudal counts.” However, he doesn’t formally synonymize it, nor do Broadley & Wallach 2002.

Hybridization: mossambicanus is intergrading wit oatesi and capensis in E Zimbabwe and S Mozambique (Broadley 1979; BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991).
Derleyn (1978) had described T. c. schilsi from the Ruzizi plain in Burundi, but this form is known from only a few specimens and differs from T. c. mossambicanus only in its shorter tail and consequently lower subcaudal counts.

Distribution: not in East Africa (i.e. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi fide S. Spawls, pers. comm., 28 June 2018). However, oatesii is, see map in Broadley 2001: 59 (Fig. 2).

Type species: Thelotornis capensis SMITH 1849 is the type species of the genus Thelotornis SMITH 1849.

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after its occurrence in the Cape region of South Africa.

The genus was named after Greek thelgo (θέλγω), to enchant, bewitch + Greek ornis (ὄρνις), bird. [?]. 
References
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