Telescopus gezirae Broadley, 1994

Crochet, Pierre-André, Rasmussen, Jens B., Wilms, Thomas, Geniez, Philippe, Trape, Jean-François & Böhme, Wolfgang, 2008, Systematic status and correct nomen of the western North African cat snake: Telescopus tripolitanus (Werner, 1909) (Serpentes: Colubridae), with comments on the other taxa in the dhara-obtusus group, Zootaxa 1703 (1), pp. 25-46 : 41

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.1703.1.2
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5107342
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AF87E1-FF99-FFB9-4DB6-11624BADB9D1
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Telescopus gezirae Broadley, 1994
status

Treatment

Telescopus gezirae Broadley, 1994 , Journal of African Zoology 108: 205. Name-bearing type(s): Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe NMZB 11807 View Materials , holotype by original designation. Type locality: Blue Nile 30 km north of Sennar ( Sudan) .

Diagnosis. Only two preserved specimens are currently known so morphological variation is still inadequately documented. Coloration in life unknown. A north-African species of Telescopus most similar to T. tripolitanus , sharing with that species a low number of supralabials (9) of which only two (4th and 5th) enter the eye and a low number of ventrals. Head broad, not as well separated from body as in dhara , obtusus or somalicus due to deeper body, short as in tripolitanus , with square snout; head pale, like pale ground colour of body, with uniform pileus and no dark longitudinal line along head side; supralabials pale with darker suffusion along upper edge; body grey-brown with 28 and 37 subrectangular dark brown dorsal blotches, plus 6–8 and 11 dark spots on tail, blotches widely separated (2–3 scale rows and 3–6 scale rows); flanks uniform, same colour as ground colour of dorsum; belly pale with dark blotches. Mid-body scale rows 21 in both specimens; ventral scales 195 and 207; subcaudal scales paired, 49 and 52 pairs; anal divided in the holotype; both specimens with 9 upper labials, of which two (4–5) touch the eye.

Distribution. The species is currently known only from the Blue Nile valley in eastern central Sudan.

Specimens examined. SUDAN: 85: BMNH 1927.8 .18.2, Wad Medani (= Wad Madani) [14.40°N / 33.35°E], received from the Sudan Government Museum; 86 GoogleMaps : NMZB 11807 View Materials , Blue Nile 30 km of Sennar [13.81°N / 33.54°E], collected by G GoogleMaps . R. C. Van Someren in late 1966 .