Amblyodipsas Peters, 1857

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 320-321

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.13159758
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3A1F87CA-4E58-4B32-A5AB-C0C5FEABFC2F
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Amblyodipsas Peters, 1857
status

Treatment

Genus Amblyodipsas Peters, 1857 View in CoL

Amblyodipsas polylepis (Bocage, 1873) COMMON PURPLE-GLOSSED SNAKE

Calamelaps polylepis Bocage 1873b:216 View in CoL . Holotype: MBL 1878 (collector J.A. d’Anchieta), destroyed by fire 18 March 1978. Type locality: “Dondo, intérieur d’Angola” [= Dondo] Kwanza Norte Province, Angola. Atractaspis Hildebrandtii View in CoL : Peters (1877a:616).

Calamelaps polylepis View in CoL : Bocage (1895a:126, 1897a:201), Ferreira (1904:116), Boulenger (1915:214). Calamelaps unicolor View in CoL : Loveridge (1933:260).

Calamelaps unicolor polylepis : Loveridge (1944c:164, 1957:281), de Witte and Laurent (1947:32). Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis View in CoL : Broadley (1971c:649), Broadley (1990:202), Branch (1998:66). Amblyodipsas polylepis View in CoL : Broadley and Cotterill (2004:46), Bates et al. (2014:345), Wallach et al. (2014:25).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Least Concern.

Global distribution: The species is known from coastal Kenya to South Africa, west to Angola and northern Namibia.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 280): The species is known from western Angola, however, the species may occur country wide with exception of the northern regions. Bengo: “Cabicula”

[-9.16667, 13.56667] ( Ferreira 1904:116; de

Witte and Laurent 1947:32; Broadley

1971a:652). Kwanza Norte: “Cazengo”

[-9.33333, 14.76667] ( Bocage 1895a:126,

1897a:201; Loveridge 1944c:164; de Witte and

Laurent 1947:32; Broadley 1971a:652);

“Dondo” [-9.68333, 14.43333] ( Bocage

1873b:216, 1895a:126, 1897a:201; Loveridge

1933:260, 1944c:164, 1957:281; de Witte and

Laurent 1947:32; Broadley 1971a:652,

1990:202). Benguela: “Quissange”

[-12.43333, 14.05000] ( Bocage 1895a:126,

1897a:201; Loveridge 1944b:164; de Witte and

Laurent 1947:32; Broadley 1971a:652).

Cunene: “Humbe” [-16.68333, 14.90000] GoogleMaps

( Bocage 1895a:126, 1897a:201; Loveridge

1944bc:164; de Witte and Laurent 1947:32;

Broadley 1971a:652). Undetermined Locali-

MAP 280. Distribution of Amblyodipsas polylepis in Angola.

ty: “without precise locality” ( Peters

1877a:616; Broadley 1971a:652).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Wallach et al. (2014) confused “Dondo” with “Dundo” from Lunda Norte Province, eastern Angola. There are currently no outstanding taxonomic issues for Amblyodipsas polylepis polylepis (Bocage 1873) , although the taxonomic status of the East African subspecies Amblyodipsas polylepis hildebrandtii (Peters, 1877) should be re-evaluated ( Bates et al. 2014).