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Thelotornis mossambicanus (BOCAGE, 1895)

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Higher TaxaColubridae, Colubrinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Eastern Twig Or Vine Snake 
SynonymDryiophis Kirtlandii var. mossambicana BOCAGE 1895: 119
Thelotornis capensis mossambicanus — RASMUSSEN 1981: 178
Thelotornis capensis mossambicanus — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 32
Thelotornis mossambicanus — BROADLEY 2001
Thelotornis mossambicanus — RAZZETTI & MSUYA 2002
Thelotornis mossambicanus — BROADLEY et al. 2003
Thelotornis capensis mossambicanus — CIMATTI 2006
Thelotornis mossambicanus — JACOBSEN et al. 2010
Thelotornis mossambicanus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 729
Thelotornis mossambicanus — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 507 
DistributionS Somalia, SE Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, E Zimbabwe

Type locality: "Manica, Mozambique" [= Mozambique],
= lectotype locality.  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesLectotype: MB (Museu Bocage) 1843 (A. Ennes), designated by Broadley (1979: 129), destroyed by fire 18 March 1978. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1258 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

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.

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bates, Michael F. 2018. Catalogue of reptiles from Mozambique in the collection of the National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Indago 34 (2): 135–147
  • Bauer, Aaron M.; Branch, William R. & Haacke, Wulf D. 1993. The herpetofauna of the Kamanjab area and adjacent Damaraland, Namibia. Madoqua (Windhoek) 18 (2): 117-145. - get paper here
  • Bennefield, B. I. 1982. Combat and Mating in the Vine Snake, Thelotornis capensis mossambicana. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (28): 13-14 - get paper here
  • Bocage,J.V. du B. 1895. Herpétologie d'Angola et du Congo. Lisbon: Imprimerie Nationale, i-xx, 203 pp. - get paper here
  • Bogert, Charles M. 1942. Snakes secured by the Snyder East African Expedition in Kenya Colony and Tanganyika Territory. American Museum Novitates (1178): 1-5 - get paper here
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. & Blaylock 2013. The Snakes of Zimbabwe and Botswana. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 387 pp. [book review in Sauria 35 (2): 59 and Copeia 2014: 388] - get paper here
  • BROADLEY, D. G. 2001. A review of the genus Thelotornis A. Smith in eastern Africa, with the description of a new species from the Usambara mountains (Serpentes: Colubridae: Dispholidini). African Journal of Herpetology 50 (2): 53-70 - 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
  • BROADLEY, D. G. & V. WALLACH 2002. Review of the Dispholidini, with the description of a new genus and species from Tanzania (Serpentes, Colubridae). Bull. nat.Hist. Mus. Lond (Zool.), 68(2): 57-74. - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1979. Problems presented by geographical variation in the African vine snakes, genus Thelotornis. S.Afr.J.Zool. 14 (3): 125-131 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1991. The Herpetofauna of Northern Mwinilunga Distr., Northw. Zambia. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9 (37): 519-538
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  • Derleyn, P. P. 1978. Notes sur les serpents du Burundi (2me partie). Les genres Geodipsas et Thelotornis. REVUE DE ZOOLOGIE AFRICAINE 92 (1): 208-218
  • Haagner,G.V.; Branch,W.R. & Haagner,A.J.F. 2000. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Zambia and adjacent areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Annals of the Eastern Cape Museum 1: 1 – 25
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  • Jacobsen, Niels H.G.; Errol W. Pietersen & Darren W. Pietersen 2010. A preliminary herpetological survey of the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula, Vilankulo, Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 3: 181-193
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  • 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
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  • Razzetti, E. & Msuya, C.A. 2002. Field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Arusha National Park (Tanzania). Publ. Ed. Negri Istituto, Oikos, Varese, 84 pp.
  • Shine,R.; Harlow, P.S.; Branch, W.R. & Webb, J.K. 1996. Life on the lowest branch: sexual dimorphism, diet, and reproductive biology of an african twig snake, Thelotornis capensis (Serpentes: Colubridae). Copeia 1996 (2): 290-299 - get paper here
  • Smith, A. 1848. Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa, Reptilia. Smith, Elder, and Co., London - 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, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
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  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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