Aparallactus lineatus

Aparallactus lineatus, or the lined centipede-eater, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae.

Aparallactus lineatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Lamprophiidae
Genus: Aparallactus
Species:
A. lineatus
Binomial name
Aparallactus lineatus
(Peters, 1870)
Synonyms

Geographic range

It is endemic to western Africa.[3] More specifically, it is found in Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, and Liberia.[4]

Description

Dorsally it is olive, with three dark longitudinal lines, to which the specific name, lineatus, refers. Ventrally it is closely speckled with dark gray on the ventral and subcaudal scales.

Total length 44 cm (17 1⁄4 in); tail 57 mm (2 1⁄4 in).

Dorsal scales smooth, without pits, in 15 rows. Ventrals 168; anal plate entire; subcaudals 41, entire.

Portion of rostral visible from above ⅓ as long as its distance from the frontal. A single prefrontal (very unusual), which forms a suture with the preocular. Frontal 1½ as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals. Nasal entire, in contact with the preocular. One post ocular. A single temporal (most other species of Aparallactus have temporals 1+1). Seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye, fifth and sixth in contact with the parietal. First lower labial in contact with its fellow behind the mental. Two pairs of subequal chin shields, the anterior in contact with three lower labials.[5]

References
  1. NatureServe (2013). "Aparallactus lineatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Wallach, V. "Aparallactus lineatus (Peters) and Aparallactus niger Boulenger: Two Valid Species from West Africa." Journal of Herpetology 28.1 (1994): 95-99.
  4. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  5. Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. London. p. 261.
  • Peters, W. 1870. Eine Mitteilung über neue Amphibien (...Uriechis...) des Königlich-zoologischen Museums. Monatsber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. p. 643, plate i, figure 3.


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