Amblyodipsas microphthalma
{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Amblyodipsas microphthalma.jpg
| image_caption = Eastern purple-glossed snake
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Amblyodipsas
| species = microphthalma
| authority = (Bianconi, 1852)
| synonyms =
- Calamaria micropthalma Bianconi, 1852
- Amblyodipsas micropthalma – Jan, 1865
| synonyms_ref = {{NRDB species |genus=Amblyodipsas |species=microphthalma |access-date=25 May 2021}}
}}
Amblyodipsas microphthalma, also known as the eastern purple-glossed snake or white-lipped snake, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the Atractaspididae family.Branch, Bill. A Photographic Guide to Snakes, Other Reptiles and Amphibians of East Africa. Cape Town: Struik, 2005. 67..{{ITIS |id=700365 |taxon=Amblyodipsas |access-date=8 August 2010}}
Geographic range
It is found in southern Mozambique and the northeastern Republic of South Africa.
Description
Dorsally dark brown. Ventrally white, including chin and tail, with a dark brown stripe down the middle of the belly. The white of the outer edges of the ventrals extends onto the adjacent first two rows of dorsal scales on each side of the body.
Rostral broader than long, portion visible from above two-thirds its distance from the frontal. Frontal large, nearly twice as long as broad, acutely pointed behind, much longer than its distance from the end of the snout. Only four upper labials, second and third entering the eye, fourth largest and in contact with the parietal.
Dorsal scales smooth, without pits, arranged in 15 rows. Ventrals 142; anal plate divided; subcaudals 19, divided.
Total length {{convert|30|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}}; tail {{convert|24|mm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}}.Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. London. p. 244.
References
{{Reflist}}
- Bianconi, G.G. 1852. Specimina zoologica mosambicana. p. 94, plate xii, figure 1.
External links
- [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/26484-Amblyodipsas-microphthalma iNaturalist page]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2704194}}
Category:Reptiles of Mozambique
Category:Reptiles of South Africa
Category:Taxa named by Giovanni Giuseppe Bianconi
Category:Reptiles described in 1852
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