Boaedon fuliginosus (Boie, 1827)

Bittencourt-Silva, Gabriela B., Bayliss, Julian & Conradie, Werner, 2020, First herpetological surveys of Mount Lico and Mount Socone, Mozambique, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 247) 14 (2), pp. 198-217 : 211

Boaedon fuliginosus (Boie, 1827)

Brown House Snake

Material. MOUNT LICO (base): PEM R 23932. Identification. Scalation: 221 ventrals, 51 subcaudals, 1 preocular, 2 postoculars, 1+2+3 temporals, 8 upper labials with 4 th and 5 th entering the orbit, 9 lower labials with the 1 st four in contact with the first sublingual, 25 midbody scale rows ( Fig. 4O ). The Boaedon lineatusfuliginosus-capensis species complex is one of the most complicated groups of African snakes ( Hughes 1997), and many species have been proposed or described in recent years ( Trape and Mediannikov 2016). While Trape and Mediannikov (2016) retrict the name Boaedon fuliginosus to the darker form in West Africa that lacks distinct head markings, we tentatively assign our specimen to B. fuliginosus based on an overall plain coloration until the taxonomy of this group is resolved. The closest match on GenBank is B. fuliginosus from an unknown location (99% sequence similarity; JF 357940). Comments. Collected in the Eucalyptus plantation near the campsite.

Figures

Fig. 4. Reptiles from Mount Lico and Mount Socone, northern Mozambique. (A) Agama kirkii; (B) A. mossambica; (C) Chamaeleo dilepis; (D) Rhampholeon tilburyi; (E) Trioceros melleri; (F) Platysaurus maculatus; (G) Lygodactylus sp.; (H) Melanoseps ater; (I) Panaspis aff. maculicollis; (J) Dasypeltis scabra; (K–L) Philothamnus macrops; (M–N) Naja subfulva; (O) Boaedon fuliginosus.