Boiga blandingii (Hallowell, 1844)

Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoude, Trape, Jean François, David, Patrick, Ohler, Annemarie, Dubois, Alain & Glitho, Isabelle Adolé, 2011, The snake fauna of Togo: systematics, distribution and biogeography, with remarks on selected taxonomic problems, Zoosystema 33 (3), pp. 325-360 : 331

Boiga blandingii (Hallowell, 1844)

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 25 specimens ( MRAC 29493 , Binaparba; MRAC 29546 , Aledjo; MRAC 29632 , Togoville; MRAC 29721 , Koutoukpa; MRAC 73014.0015 , Notse [formerly Nuatja]; GHS-W 0034-35, Agave; GHS-W 0218, Atakpame; GHS-Togo 21, Kouma Tchame; GHS-W 0204, GHS-W 0207, GHS-W 0211, GHS-W 0216, GHS-W 0219, Lomé; GHS-Togo 61, Sodo; GHS-W 0022, GHS-W 0046, GHS-W 0060, GHS-W 1187, GHS-Togo 39, Sodo Zion; GHS-W 0065-66, Yo [Agome Yo], T 215 , Huilehui; T 226 , T 234 , Bafilo) .

MORPHOLOGY. — TL from 592 to 2073 mm; 19-24 MSR, smooth and oblique; vertebral row enlarged; 252-285 Ven, smooth; 102-159 Sc, paired; anal single or divided; 9 supralabials; 11-14 infralabials; 2 preoculars; 2 or 3 postoculars; temporal scale formula 2 (rarely 1) + 2 or 3 + 3 or 4.

DISTRIBUTION. — Boiga blandingii inhabits all ecological regions of Togo, although it is more common in the

forested area. Previously this species had been recorded fromTogo by Sternfeld (1908b, 1909: 18), Hulselmans & Verheyen (1970), Hulselmans et al. (1970) and Roman (1984).

CONSERVATION STATUS. — According to reports of the CITES Division of the DFC Togo, 20 specimens were exported from Togo in 2002.

REMARK

Following Welch (1982), African species of the genus Boiga are sometimes referred to the genus Toxicodryas Hallowell,1857 , for example by Chippaux(2006) and Trape & Mané (2006b).However, there has been no revision to substantiate the validity of Toxicodryas . We here follow Rasmussen (1979) and retain the African species in the genus Boiga , a position also adopted by, for example, Pauwels & Vande Weghe (2008).