Philothamnus heterolepidotus (Günther, 1863)

Conradie, Werner, Baptista, Ninda L., Verburgt, Luke, Keates, Chad, Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2021, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes), Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 292) 15 (2), pp. 244-278 : 258

Philothamnus heterolepidotus (Günther, 1863)

Slender Green Snake ( Fig. 13 , Map 11)

Material: PEM R 23281–3, Cuanavale River source lake, Moxico, -13.09330° 18.89396°, 1,356 m asl; PEM R 27374, INBAC: WC-7094, Luvu River camp, Moxico, -13.71200° 21.83538°, 1,082 m asl; PEM R 23470–4, INBAC: WC-4619, Quembo River Source, Moxico, -13.13592° 19.04417°, 1,369 m asl; PEM R 23413, road east of Cuando River Source, Moxico, -13.00118° 19.15739°, 1,335 m asl. Description: Dorsal scales smooth and in 15 rows at midbody; 171–186 angular ventrals; 110–130 paired smooth subcaudals; 1 preocular; 2 postoculars; temporals 1+1; 9 supralabials, the 4 th –6 th entering the orbit; 10 infralabials, the first five in contact with the anterior chin shield; cloacal scale divided. Largest female: 529 + 249 mm ( PEM R 23474); largest male: 520 + 270 mm ( PEM R 23283). Habitat and natural history notes: Commonly found and trapped near water sources. Three specimens had reed frogs ( Hyperolius sp. ) in their stomachs. One female ( PEM R 23472) had four eggs, largest measuring 29.0 x 7.8 mm. A few individuals were captured at night while sleeping in trees near the water. Comment: In the literature, P. heterolepidotus is recorded to have either smooth or angular ventral scales ( Broadley et al. 2003; Spawls et al. 2018; Chippaux and Jackson 2019). All of the new material presented here exhibited weakly developed angular ventral scales. The species is known from a number of localities in Angola ( Marques et al. 2018). The record referred to as P. hoplogaster in Conradie et al. (2016) is actually a P. heterolepidotus .

Figures

Fig. 13. Philothamnus heterolepidotus from Cuanavale River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.