Dendroaspis jamesoni (Traill, 1843)

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 : 337

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5252/z2011n3a4
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4547098
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B7FC4E-C031-6E7D-FF57-FDB56D43E5E8
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Dendroaspis jamesoni (Traill, 1843)
status

Treatment

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 1 đ ( ZMB 28481), Togo, no precise locality.

MORPHOLOGY. — TL 1990 mm; 17 MSR, smooth and oblique; 225 Ven, smooth; 110 Sc, paired; anal divided; 8 supralabials; 9 infralabials; 3 preoculars; 3 postoculars; 1 subocular; temporal scale formula 2 + 2.

DISTRIBUTION. — This species is restricted to forested areas. The forested region between Togo and Ghana would mark the western limit of its range ( Rasmussen 1994). Sternfeld (1908b, 1909: 24) mentioned a specimen from Missahohe. Villiers (1975), Harding & Welch (1980), Welch (1982), Roman (1984), Golay et al. (1993), Rasmussen (1994), Spawls & Branch (1995), David & Ineich (1999) and Chippaux (2006) also mentioned this species in Togo.

REMARK

Specimen ZMB 28481 is the sole specimen of this species recorded from Togo. In spite of the numerous field surveys that we have realized in ER IV, no further specimens have been collected. This species is probably disappearing in Togo because of the high degree of deforestation in the Togo-Volta Highlands, i.e. the border area of Ghana and Togo, where most of the forests have been highly degraded or destroyed and subsequently transformed into agricultural areas ( Rödel & Agyei 2003).