Thrasops flavigularis (Hallowell, 1852)

Ineich, Ivan, LeBreton, Matthew, Lhermitte-Vallarino, Nathaly, Abstract. - The, Laurent Chirio, Oku, Mount & Highlands, Bamenda, 2015, The reptiles of the summits of Mont Oku and the Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon *, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 108) 9 (2), pp. 15-38 : 28

Thrasops flavigularis (Hallowell, 1852) (one specimen)

Material: MNHN-RA 1998.0436 (skin, head and neck only; Mt. Oku, Oku village, elev. 2,050 m, coll. CamHerp L. Chirio, November 8, 1997).

This snake is a typical inhabitant of the dense forests of Central Africa, from Cameroon to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is common to find in the villages and plantations. Thrasops flavigularis occupies the Highlands up to 2,000 m at Mt. Oku. Gonwouo et al. (2007) recognize it as an inhabitant of submontane forests in Cameroon. This snake, once considered non-venomous, is capable of inflicting serious envenomations ( Ineich et al. 2006) and should be handled with caution.

Our specimen, MNHN-RA 1998.0436, only consists of the head, neck [in good condition], and the skin of an individual eaten by the local population. It has 15 dorsal scale rows in the middle of the body, which seems rare according to Chippaux (2006), because there are more often only 13 – however 15 dorsal scales seems more typical of grass field populations ( Stucki-Stirn 1979). Preoculars are 2/2 and the upper is the largest (>2 times the size of the lower). The upper preoculars are widely separated from the frontal. The first post-ocular prevents contact of the supralabial 6 with the eye. Postoculars 3/3 and the lower is much larger and elongated (>4 times) than the other two substantially equal in size. The lower postocular contacts two supralabials (5–6). There are only 7(4–5)/7(4–5) supralabials and 10/11 infralabials. Temporals 1+1/1+1. This specimen slightly differs from the diagnosis given by Chippaux (2006: 108–109) and Stucki-Stirn (1979: 320–328) for the species.

According to Chippaux (2006), our specimen differs from Thrasops jacksoni because it has 2 preoculars (versus 3), its much larger lower postocular (vs. sup. and inf. larger) and 7 supralabials (vs. 10–12) and from Thrasops occidentalis because the large postocular is in contact with 2 supralabials (vs. postocular in contact with 3 supralabials). We refer that damaged specimen to Thrasops flavigularis and consider some of the characters indicated in the diagnosis of the species given by Chippaux (2006) as incomplete.

Elapidae Boie, 1827