Prosymna angolensis
{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Prosymna angolensis.png
| image2 = Prosymna angolensis 2.png
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =
| genus = Prosymna
| species = angolensis
| authority = Boulenger 1915
}}
Prosymna angolensis, commonly known as the Angolan shovel-snout snake,{{Cite journal |last1=Heinicke |first1=Matthew P |last2=Titus-McQuillan |first2=James E |last3=Daza |first3=Juan D |last4=Kull |first4=Elizabeth M |last5=Stanley |first5=Edward L |last6=Bauer |first6=Aaron M |date=2020-08-26 |title=Phylogeny and evolution of unique skull morphologies in dietary specialist African shovel-snouted snakes (Lamprophiidae: Prosymna) |url=https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/131/1/136/5876234 |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=131 |issue=1 |pages=136–153 |doi=10.1093/biolinnean/blaa076 |issn=0024-4066}} is a species in the family Prosymnidae{{Cite journal |last=Boulenger |first=G.A. |date=1915 |title=A list of the snakes of the Belgian and Portuguese Congo, northern Rhodesia, and Angola. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31750870#page/296/mode/1up |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=1915 |issue=1-2 |pages=208 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}} native to southern Africa. Described in 1915, little is known about it other than its range and morphology.
Morphology
Prosymna angolensis has a gray or tan dorsal coloration with dark spots down the back and a white ventral coloration.{{Cite journal |last1=Baptista |first1=NL |last2=António |first2=T |last3=Branch |first3=WR |date=2019 |title=The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338581840 |journal=Amphibian & Reptile Conservation |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=96–130 |via=ResearchGate}} Snout-vent length averages 209mm for males and 224 for females {{Cite journal |last1=Conradie |first1=Werner |last2=Keates |first2=Chad |last3=Baptista |first3=Ninda L. |last4=Lobón-Rovira |first4=Javier |date=2022-09-15 |title=Taxonomical review of Prosymna angolensis Boulenger, 1915 (Elapoidea, Prosymnidae) with the description of two new species |journal=ZooKeys |language=en |issue=1121 |pages=97–143 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1121.85693 |doi-access=free |issn=1313-2970 |pmc=9848606 |pmid=36760759|bibcode=2022ZooK.1121...97C }} The usual midbody scale row pattern is 17-25-25, and the species averages 138 ventral scales for males and 148 for females. It has one postocular scale and one preocular that separates the single prefrontal from the eyes.{{Cite journal |last=Loveridge |first=A |date=1958 |title=Revision of five african snake genera |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4773552#page/162/mode/1up |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College |volume=119 |pages=150 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}} Its skull has reduced kinesis due to many reduced bone elements such as a reduced palatine and reduced maxilla, though the premaxilla is elongated.
Taxonomic history
The species was first described in 1915 by George Boulenger. Previously, specimens were referred to as Prosymna frontalis. In 2022, Conradie et al. used morphology and DNA (3 mitochondrial and 1 nuclear gene) to separate P. angolensis into three species:
- two newly-described species:
- Prosymna confusa, a coastal species restricted to dry habitats in southwestern Angola,
- Prosymna lisima, an eastern species found in Kalahari sands in eastern Angola, western Zambia, and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia,
- and retaining P. angolensis for specimens collected in western Angola (overlapping with P. confusa), northeastern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip, where it overlaps with P. lisima), northern Botswana, and eastern Zimbabwe.
The type localities of all three species are in Angola (Caconda for P. angolensis, the lake at the source of the Cuito River for P. lisima, and the edge of Bentiaba River, 20 km west of Lola for P. confusa).
= Etymology =
Geographical range
Initially recorded and often sighted in southwestern Angola, this snake is also found in Angola's Cubango River basin{{Cite journal |last1=Conradie |first1=W |last2=Bills |first2=R |last3=Branch |first3=W |date=2016 |title=The herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and lower Cuando river catchments of south-eastern Angola |url=http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/pdfs/Volume/Vol_10_no_2/ARC_10_2_[Special_Section]_6-36_e126_low_res.pdf |journal=Amphibian and Reptile Conservation |volume=6 |issue=36}} on the east side of the country as well as in Zimbabwe, Botswana,{{Cite journal |last=Broadley |first=DG |date=1995 |title=Geographical Distribution - Prosymna angolensis |url=http://africanherpetology.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AHN-23-1995.pdf |journal=African Herp News |volume=23 |pages=48}} Namibia, and Zambia.
Habitat
This species is associated with savanna with an annual rainfall of 500–1200 mm.{{Cite journal |last=Broadley |first=D.G. |date=1980 |title=A revision of the African snake genus Prosymna Gray (Colubridae) |journal=Occasional Papers of the National Museum of Rhodesia B |volume=6 |issue=7 |pages=481-556}} In southwestern Angola it has been found in sandy soils in miombo woodland.{{Cite journal |last=Baptista |first=N.L. |last2=António |first2=T. |last3=Branch |first3=W.L. |date=2019 |title=The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist |url=https://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/pdfs/Volume/Vol_13_no_2/ARC_13_2_[Special_Section]_96-130_e203.pdf |journal=Amphibian & Reptile Conservation |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=96-130}} Prosymna angolensis is a rarely observed species that mostly emerges to the surface only after good rains, so its distribution is incompletely known.
References
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