Psammophis mossambicus Peters, 1882

Baptista, Ninda L., António, Telmo & Branch, William R., 2019, The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 203) 13 (2), pp. 96-130 : 118

Psammophis mossambicus Peters, 1882

Olive Grass Snake ( Fig. 31 )

Material: NB 518 (head only) ( T 1); photographic record (J. Traguedo, HF).

Comment: This species belongs to the P. sibilans complex ( Kelly et al. 2008, Trape et al. 2019). The collected snake had a uniformly pale-yellow belly, and dorsal coloration was plain gray with a thin darker vertebral dash. Head scalation and ventral (159) and subcaudal (80) scale counts recorded from the specimen conform to P. mossambicus ( Broadley 2002, Trape et al. 2019). It is locally known as “muiha on njolo” (J. Traguedo, pers. comm.).

Figures

Fig. 31. Psammophis mossambicus, Handa Farm (Photo by J. Traguedo).