Dendroaspis Schlegel, 1848

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 362-364

Genus Dendroaspis Schlegel, 1848

Dendroaspis jamesoni ( Traill, 1843) JAMESON’S MAMBA

Elaps jamesoni Traill 1843:54 . Holotype: NMSZ 1869.3.147, formely TST and RSM (collector T.S. Traill family). Type locality: “ Demerara, Equinoxial America” ( Traill 1843:53) [= Guyana, South America], in error, restricted to “West Africa” by Mertens (1938b:49).

Dendraspis Welwitschii Günther 1865b:97 , pl. 2, fig. A. Holotype: BMNH:64.7.13.39 (collector F. Welwitsch). Type locality: “Golungo Alto”, Kwanza Norte Province, Angola.

Dendraspis neglectus Bocage 1888:141 , fig. 4. Syntypes: MBL specimen numbers unknown (collector not stated), destroyed by fire 18 March 1978. Type locality: “L’Afrique occidentale de la Sénégambie à Angola (au nord du Quanza)”, [= West Africa from Senegal and Gambia to Angola (north of Quanza)].

Dendraspis Welwitschii : Bocage (1866a:51, 1888:143).

Dendraspis neglectus : Bocage (1895a:138), Ferreira (1900a:53).

Dendroaspis jamesonii : Boulenger (1896:436, 1915:220), Parker (1936:126), Monard (1937b:137), Frade (1963:252), Spawls and Branch (1995:47),

Dendroaspis jamesoni jamesoni : Laurent (1950a:10, 1954a:61, 1964a:121), Hellmich (1957b:73), Thys van den Audenaerde (1966:36), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:570).

Dendroaspis jamesonii jamesonii ( Elaps jamesonii ): Manaças (1981:30).

Dendroaspis jamesoni : Dobiey and Vogel (2007:42), Wallach et al. (2014:219), Vaz Pinto and Branch (2015: 45).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated.

Global distribution: The species is known from Ghana eastwards to southern Sudan, South

Sudan and southwestern Kenya (Kakamega) and south to northern and central Angola, the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, and possibly northern Zambia. Wallach et al. (2014) considered that records from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and northern Zambia required confirmation.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 326): The species is known from north and central Angola . Cabinda: “ Landana ” [-5.21667, 12.15000]

( Bocage 1895a:138); “ Cabinda ” [-5.55000,

12.18333] ( Bocage 1895a:138; Manaças

1981:30). Zaire: “St. Salvador do Congo”

[-6.26667, 14.23333] ( Bocage 1895a:138;

Manaças 1981:30). Lunda Norte: “Dundo”

[-7.36667, 20.83333] ( Laurent 1950a:10,

1954a:61, 1964a:121; Thys van den Audenaer-

de 1966:36); “Dundo, barrage de la Luachimo”

[-7.38333, 20.85000] (Thys van den Audenaer-

de 1966:36). Luanda: “Loanda” [-8.83333,

13.26667] ( Ferreira 1900a:53). Bengo: “de

Cacolo ao rio Bengo ” (Ferreira 1900:53).

Malanje: “Pungo-Andongo” [-9.66667, MAP 326. Distribution of Dendroaspis jamesoni in Angola.

15.58333] ( Bocage 1895a:138). Kwanza

Norte: “Piri-Dembos” [-8.53333, 14.43333] ( Hellmich 1957b:73; Manaças 1981:30); “Golungo Alto (Golungo-alto, dans llntérieur d’Angola, au nord du Quanza)” [-9.13333, 14.76667] ( Günther 1865b:97; Bocage 1888:143; 1895a:138; Boulenger 1896:436; Monard 1937b:137, Manaças 1981:30); “Ambaca” [-9.26667, 15.18333] ( Ferreira 1900a:53); “N’dalla Tando” [-9.30000, 14.91667] (Ferreria 1903:13; Manaças 1981:30); “Dondo” [-9.68333, 14.43333] (Manaças 1981:30). Kwanza Sul: “on a track between Kwanza bridge “Filomena da Câmara” and Farm Cabuta” [-9.78528, 14.81389] (pers. comm. Kelse Alexandre in Vaz Pinto and Branch 2015:45); “main road from Luanda to Huambo at Munenga, approximately 12 km south of the turning to Calulo” [-10.12083, 14.66500] (Vaz Pinto and Branch 2015:45); “Quirimbo” [-10.68333, 14.26667] ( Parker 1936:126; Manaças 1981:30); “Congulu” [-10.86667, 14.28333] ( Parker 1936:126; Manaças 1981:30). Huambo: “Bela Vista” [-12.36667, 16.20000] ( Hellmich 1957b:73; Manaças 1981:30). Undetermined Locality: “ Angola (au nord du Quanza)” ( Bocage 1888:142).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Hughes and Barry (1969) listed two syntypes (RSM 1869.3.147 and BMNH 1946.1.20.43) of D. jamesoni , but the original description specified a single type (see Wallach et al. 2014). Bocage (1895a) recognized two species of mambas in Angola, Dendroaspis angusticeps (Smith, 1849) and Dendroaspis neglectus ( Bocage, 1888) , the latter currently considered a junior synonym of D. jamesoni . The species Dendroaspis angusticeps has been restricted to East and Southern Africa, and Bocage’s records assigned to this species in fact represent the Black Mamba , Dendroaspis polylepis Günther, 1864 . In Angola, Spawls and Branch (1995) and Dobiey and Vogel (2007) considered D. jamesoni present only to the north of Luanda.

Dendroaspis polylepis ( Günther, 1864) BLACK MAMBA

Dendraspis polylepis Günther 1864:310 . Holotype: BMNH 1946.1 .20.53 (formerly 64.6.28.15) (collector

J. Kirk). Type locality: “regions bordering the Zambezi, including those of the Nyassa Lake ” [= Zambesi

River], Mozambique fide Loveridge (1953a:290). Dendraspis angusticeps ?: Bocage (1866a:52). Dendraspis angusticeps : Peters (1877a:617, 1888:149), Bocage (1888:143, 1895a:140), Boulenger (1915:220), Schmidt (1933:15), Monard (1937b:137), Bogert (1940:92), Frade (1963:253).

Dendroaspis polylepis polylepis : Loveridge (1957:294), FitzSimons (1962:310), Baynham (2010:25), Conradie et al. (2016:22) .

Dendroaspis polylepis polylepis ( Dendroaspis polylepis ): Manaças (1981:30).

Dendroaspis polylepis : Håkansson and Madsen (1983:186), Broadley (1990:297), Spawls and Branch (1995:49), Broadley and Cotterill (2004:48), Chippaux (2006:235), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:572), Dobiey and Vogel (2007:44), Bates et al. (2014:398), Wallach et al. (2014:220), Branch and Conradie (2015:200), Ceríaco et al. (2016b:87).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Least Concern.

Global distribution: The species has an enormous range throughout the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, occuring from Senegal eastwards to Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, then south to the Eastern Cape in South Africa, and west to Namibia and Angola, but absent from the equatorial forests of west and central Africa and from desert areas. Range in West Africa highly fragmented.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 327): The species mainly occurs in the west and central areas of Angola, however, it is also widely distributed in the eastern regions of the country.

There are no published records from most coastal areas or from the Namib Desert. Zaire:

“ Luanda Pil, approximately 6.5 km west of

Soyo airport” [-6.155556, 12.26611] ( Baynham 2010:25). Lunda Norte: “Carumbo”

[-7.74422, 19.95467] (Branch and Conradie

2015:200). Malanje: “ Malanje ” [-9.55000,

16.35000] ( Peters 1881:149); “Cangandala

National Park” [-9.84606, 16.72233] (Ceríaco et al. 2016b:87). Bié: “Chitau” [-11.43333,

17.15000] ( Schmidt 1933:15). Benguela :

“Quissange” [-12.43333, 14.05000] ( Bocage

1888:143; Manaças 1981:30); “Quindumbo”

MAP 327. Distribution of Dendroaspis polylepis in [-12.46667, 14.93333] ( Bocage 1888:143, Angola.

1895a:140; Monard 1937b:137; Manaças

1981:30); “Cahata” [-12.35000, 14.81667] ( Bocage 1895a:140; Monard 1937b:137; Manaças 1981:30); “Hanha” [-12.25000, 13.75000] ( Bogert 1940:92). Huíla: “Molundo” [-15.63333, 15.20000] ( Schmidt 1933:15). Cuando Cubango: “Cuando basin (37)” (observation record) [-17.67833, 22.61475] ( Conradie et al. 2016:9, 10, 22).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: For some time Dendroaspis polylepis ( Günther, 1864) was wrongly identified as Dendroaspis angusticeps (Smith, 1849) in Angola ( Bocage 1866a, 1888, 1895a; Peters 1877a, 1888; Boulenger 1915; Schmidt 1933; Bogert 1940; Frade 1963). This is clearly a misidentification, as D. angusticeps has a restricted distribution in Eastern southern Africa (Manaças 1981; Wallach et al. 2014). Branch and Conradie (2015) recently collected D. polylepis from Lake Carumbo, in Lunda Norte Province, the most eastern record of the species in Angola and Branch et al. (in Conradie et al. 2016) suggested that the species is likely more widely distributed in southern Angola than previously believed.