Chilorhinophis gerardi

Chilorhinophis gerardi, commonly known as the Congo two-headed snake, Gerard's black and yellow burrowing snake, and Gerard's two-headed snake, is a species of mildly venomous snake in the family Atractaspididae.[3] The species is endemic to Africa.

Chilorhinophis gerardi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Atractaspididae
Genus: Chilorhinophis
Species:
C. gerardi
Binomial name
Chilorhinophis gerardi
(Boulenger, 1913)
Synonyms[2]

Etymology

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The specific name, gerardi, is in honor of Belgian physician and naturalist Pol Gérard (1886-1961) who collected the type specimen.[4]

Geographic range

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C. gerardi is found in southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire), Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[2]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitat of C. gerardi is savanna, at altitudes up to 920 m (3,020 ft).[1]

Reproduction

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C. gerardi is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

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Two subspecies of C. gerardi are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Chilorhinophis.

References

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  1. ^ a b Alexander GJ, Tolley KA (2021). "Chilorhinophis gerardi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T20878365A20878375.en. Accessed on 19 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Chilorhinophis gerardi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 20 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Chilorhinophis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  4. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Chilorhinophis gerardi, p. 99).

Further reading

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  • Barbour T, Amaral A (1927). "Studies on African Ophidia". Bulletin of the Antivenin Institute of America 1 (1): 25–27.
  • Boulenger GA (1913). "Description de deux reptiles nouveaux provenant du Katanga ". Revue Zoologique Africaine 3: 103–105. (Apostolepis gerardi, new species, pp. 103–104, Figure). (in French).
  • Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Chilorhinophis gerardi, p. 67 + Plate 24).
  • Loveridge A (1951). "On Reptiles and Amphibians from Tanganyika Territory Collected by C. J. P. Ionides". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College 106 (4): 175–204. (Chilorhinophis gerardi tanganyikae, new subspecies, pp. 195–196).
  • Spawls S, Howell K, Hinkel H, Menegon M (2018). Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury Natural History. 624 pp. ISBN 978-1472935618. (Chilorhinophis gerardi, p. 465).