Bitis arietans arietans (Merrem, 1820)

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 : 31

Bitis arietans arietans (Merrem, 1820) (two specimens)

Material: CamHerp 0694C (Veko village, 6.139°N and 10.578°E, elev. 2,044 m, coll. CamHerp M. LeBreton, July 8, 2002) – CamHerp 3523I (Jakiri village along the road from Bamenda to Nkambe, 6.055°N and 10.658°E, elev. 1,550 m, coll. CamHerp M. LeBreton, December 14, 2002) .

This big and massive snake has a pan-African distribution, and is also found on the Arabian Peninsula. It frequents forest-savanna mosaics, the Western Highlands, and all types of savannas (high, Sudanese, and Sahelian). It lives at ground level and bites are frequent, making it a feared snake. It occupies elevation areas up to 2,044 m in the village of Veko in the BH. Its wide distribution in Africa was largely influenced by the occupation of climatic refuges during periods of glaciation ( Barlow et al. 2013). Other altitude populations exist such as those of the East African Mountain Arc or of the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa ( Phelps 2010; Barlow et al. 2013). The altitudinal record for the species is around 2,200 m but the species seems able to occur even higher, up to 2,400 m ( Spawls et al. 2002; Largen and Spawls 2010).