Atractaspidinae, Gunther, 1858

Branch, William R., 2018, When roads appear jaguars decline: Increased access to an Amazonian wilderness area reduces potential for jaguar conservation, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 159) 12 (2), pp. 41-82 : 54-55

Subfamily: Atractaspidinae

The atractaspidines are sometimes raised to a full family ( Figueroa et al. 2016), with a reduced Atractaspidinae containing only Atractaspis and South African Homoroselaps , and all other genera placed in a new subfamily, the Aparallacinae. This arrangement is not adopted here, where the Atractaspidinae is retained within the Lamprophiidae and contains all genera traditionally placed in that group. A suite of genera have usually been assigned to the atractaspidines ( Amblyodipsas , Aparallactus , Atractaspis , Brachyophis , Chilorhinophis , Elapotinus , Homoroselaps , Hypoptophis , Macrelaps , Poecilopholis , Polemon , Xenocalamus ), which are distributed broadly in Africa but with a limited occurrence of some genera in the Middle East. The monophyly of atractaspidines is well supported by both morphological ( McDowell 1968; Underwood and Kochva 1993; Zaher 1999) and molecular data ( Nagy et al. 2005; Vidal and Hedges 2007; Portillo et al. 2018). Figueroa et al. (2016) proposed that Xenocalamus be synonymized with Amblyodipsas , but based this on very limited taxon sampling of these genera. A more comprehensive molecular analysis of the subfamily ( Portillo et al. 2018) included 158 individuals from six of eight aparallactine genera, and revealed numerous cryptic taxa, as well as the need for a number of generic readjustments to retain monophyletic clades that continue to include generic status for both Xenocalamus and Amblyodipsas , but with adjusted species content.

Bibron’s Burrowing Asp

Atractaspis bibronii (Smith 1849)

Atractaspis bibronii Smith, 1849 . Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 3 (Reptiles). Smith, Elder, and Co., London: 51.

Bocage (1895) knew the species from Catumbela, Benguela and Dombe Grande, the only places from which Anchieta sent material, and on this basis noted that “cette espèce, qui paraît affectionner en Angola la zone littorale.” Additional material (as Atractaspis bibroni rostrata ) was recorded from Dundo ( Laurent 1950, 1954, 1964; Tys van den Audenaerde 1967).

Congo Burrowing Asp

Atractaspis congica ( Peters 1877)

Atractaspis congica Peters, 1877 . Übersicht der Amphibien aus Chinchoxo (Westafrika), welche von der Africanischen Gesellschaft dem Berliner zoologischen Museum übergeben sind. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1877 (October): 616.

Bocage (1873) did not recognize the first Angolan record sent to him from Huilla by Anchieta, as a new species and mistakenly referred it to Atractaspis aterrima . Peters (1877) described the species a few years later from Lândana, Cabinda. He later ( Peters 1881) record another specimen from Cuango. Bocage (1895) concluded that the species lived in the highlands of the interior, as he had received material from Quibula, Quindumbo, Galanga, Caconda, and Huila from Anchieta. Later additions included: Cazengo ( Ferreira 1904), Calandula, Golungo Alto ( Boulenger 1905), Bimbe ( Monard 1937), Entre Rios, Piri, Bela Vista, Alto Cubal (Hellmich 1957), Alto Cuilo (as A. c. congica ), and Calundo, Moxico (A. c. orientalis) ( Laurent 1964), and show that it has a wider distribution than known to Bocage (1895). The status of Laurent’s subspecies of A. congica , e.g., A. c. orientalis Laurent, 1945 from Katanga and northern Zambia, and A. c. lelupi Laurent, 1950 from Katanga remain problematic, although Wallach et al. (2014) treated A. lelupi as a full species.

Southern Reticulate Burrowing Asp

Atractaspis reticulata heterochilus (Boulenger 1901)

Atractaspis heterochilus Boulenger, 1901 . Materiaux pour la faune du Congo. Batraciens et reptiles nouveaux. Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Zool. (sect. C. ser. 1) 2: 13.

Hellmich’s (1957) record of A. reticulata heterochilus from Piri-Dembos (= Piri) is the only record of this species from Angola, and needs re-examination to confirm it is not misidentified. The race is recorded from Cameroon to Gabon and so may extend through Cabinda further south.