Philothamnus semivariegatus (Smith, 1840)

Baptista, Ninda L., António, Telmo & Branch, William R., 2019, The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 203) 13 (2), pp. 96-130 : 116

Philothamnus semivariegatus (Smith, 1840) sensu lato Spotted Bush Snake ( Fig. 25 )

Material: Two unlabelled bleached specimens in Carmira Farm’s private collection; one photographic record from Handa Farm (J. Traguedo, HF).

Comment: The complex taxonomic history of this species is discussed by Branch (2018). We cautiously assign specimens from Carmira Farm to P. semivariegatus based on scalation (three supra-labials entering orbit, temporal arrangement 2+2, and keeled ventrals), however, coloration of specimens from both farms did not have any markings (atypical of P. semivariegatus ). Historical records from Angola were compiled ( Marques et al. 2018), and additional records include coastal lowlands in Benguela Province (Vaz Pinto, unpub. data). This species is paraphyletic having at least four different lineages ( Engelbrecht et al. 2019), and the Carmira Farm specimens might group with clade 4. Records of P. angolensis from Capelongo ( Bogert 1940) and Humbe (Haacke, TM) deserve careful comparison with this material.

Figures

Fig. 25. Philothamnus semivariegatus sensu latu, Carmira Farm.