Toxicodryas Hallowell, 1857

Marques, Mariana P., Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Blackburn, David C. & Bauer, Aaron M., 2018, Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840 - 2017), Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 65, pp. 1-501 : 405-406

Genus Toxicodryas Hallowell, 1857

Toxicodryas blandingii (Hallowell, “1844” 1845) BLANDING’S TREE SNAKE Dipsas Blandingii Hallowell “1844” 1845:170. Holotype: ANSP 10083 (collector E. Blanding, don. W. Blanding), lost fide Hughes and Barry (1969:1020). Type locality: “ Liberia, West Africa. ”

Boiga blandingii : Laurent (1950a:9, 1954a:57, 1964a:109), Thys van den Audenaerde (1966:34), Spawls and Branch (1995:26), Broadley and Cotterill (2004:50), Spawls et al. (2004:373).

Toxicodryas blandingii : Trapé and Mane (2006:168), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:562), Wallach et al. (2014:719).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated.

Global distribution: The species is known from Senegal and Guinea, east to western Kenya, south to northern Angola, the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, and northern Zambia.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 370): The species is known from northeastern Angola. Lunda Norte: “Dundo” [-7.36667, 20.83333] ( Laurent 1950a:9, 1954a:57, 1964a:109; Thys van den Audenaerde 1966:34); “Andrada” [-7.70000, 21.38333] ( Laurent 1964a:109).

Taxonomic and distributional notes: Some authors including Peters (1877a), Bocage (1895a), Parker (1936) and Hellmich (1957b) erroneously reported this species from northwestern Angola. Records from “Chinchoxo,” “Piri-Dembos,” and “Quirimbo” formerly identified as T. blandingii should be MAP 370. Distribution of Toxicodryas blandingii in

Angola. assigned to Toxicodryas pulverulenta ( Fischer, 1856) .

Toxicodryas pulverulenta ( Fischer, 1856) FISCHER’S CAT SNAKE

Dipsas pulverulenta Fischer 1856:81 , pl. 3, figs. 1a–1c. Lectotype: ZMH 4376 , formerly ZMH 339 (collector

Dr. Davis), designated by Wallach et al. (2014:720). Type locality: “ Edina , Grand Bassa County in Liberia

(West-Afrika),” corrected to “St. Thomé,” São Tomé and Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea” by Ladiges in Hughes and Barry (1969:1020), which is itself in error; the original type locality is probably correct as stated

(see notes below). Dipsas pulverulenta : Peters (1877a:615), Bocage (1887a:186, 1895a:123). Dipsas Blandingii : Peters (1877a:615), Bocage (1895a:124). Boiga blandingi : Parker (1936:125). Boiga blandingii : Hellmich (1957b:67), Loveridge (1957:268). Boiga pulverulenta : Parker (1936:109), Hellmich (1957b:68), Loveridge (1957:269), Frade (1963:252),

Spawls et al. (2004:374). Toxicodryas pulverulenta : Chippaux (2006:155), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:564). Toxicodryas pulverulentus : Wallach et al. (2014:719).

Global conservation status (IUCN): Not Evaluated. Global distribution: The species is known from West and Central Africa, from Guinea to Cameroon, east to Uganda and Kenya, and south to the southern Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.

Ocurrences in Angola (Map 371): The species is known from northwestern Angola.

Cabinda: “Chinchoxo” [-5.10000, 12.10000]

( Peters 1877a:615; Bocage 1887a:186,

1895a:123-124); “ Cabinda ” [-5.55000,

12.18333] ( Frade 1963:252). Kwanza Norte :

“Piri-Dembos” [-8.56667, 14.50000] ( Hellmich 1957b:67-68). Kwanza Sul: “Quirimbo”

[-10.68333, 14.26667] ( Parker 1936:125);

“Congulu” [-10.86667, 14.28333] ( Parker

1936:125).

Taxonomic and distributional notes:

Authors including Peters (1877a), Bocage

(1895a), Parker (1936) and Hellmich (1957b)

confused this species with Toxicodryas blandingii (Hallowell, “1844” 1845), resulting in erroneous estimations of species distributions. Toxicodryas blandingii is limited to MAP 371. Distribution of Toxicodryas pulverulenta in Angola.

extreme northeastern Angola (Spawls and

Branch 1995; Wallach et al. 2014) whereas the distribution of T. pulverulenta ( Fischer, 1856) comprises a large portion of the northwestern parts of the country. In the original description Fischer (1856) referred to two specimens (one subsequently lost fide Hallermann 1998) from “Edina, Grand Bassa County in Liberia (West-Afrika),” collected by Dr. Davis and donated to the Hamburg Museum. Hughes and Barry (1969), following a personal communication from the curator at that time, Werner Ladiges, corrected the type locality of Toxicodryas pulverulenta to “St. Thomé,” presumably São Tomé and Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea. Schätti and Loumont (1992) and Wallach et al. (2014) followed Hughes and Barry (1969) and Chippaux (2006) incorrectly referred to “Saint Thomé, Liberia ” as the type locality of the species (there is no locality with this or a similar name in Liberia). The suggestion by Ladiges was certainly the result of a labeling mistake. The species has never subsequently been found on São Tomé, despite recent extensive collecting by the California Academy of Sciences and Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, and it has never been cited in any of the works on the herpetofauna of the island (e.g., Bocage 1879, 1886b, 1886c, 1886d, 1890, 1905; Greef 1884; Bedriaga 1892; Manaças 1958; Capocaccia 1961; Schätti and Loumont 1992; Nill 1993; Ceríaco et al. 2018). Therefore, we recommend that original type locality, “Edina, Liberia,” should stand as is.