Philothamnus heterodermus ( Hallowell, 1857 )

Sánchez-Vialas, Alberto, Calvo-Revuelta, Marta & Riva, Ignacio De La, 2022, Synopsis of the terrestrial Reptiles of Equatorial Guinea, Zootaxa 5202 (1), pp. 1-197 : 78

Philothamnus heterodermus ( Hallowell, 1857)

Figure 19B

Chlorophis heterodermus Hallowell, 1857: 54 . Type locality: “Gaboon”, Gabon.

Ahaetulla heteroderma ( Hallowell, 1857) : Günther 1863c: 285.

Philothamnus heterodonta ( Hallowell, 1857) : Sauvage 1884: 201 (in error).

Chlorophis cyaneus Hecht, 1929: 331 . Type locality: “ Aioshöle am Nyong , Kamerun” Cameroon.

Distribution. This species extends from West Africa ( Guinea Bissau) to East Africa ( Tanzania) and southward to northern Angola. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded in Río Muni at Bata (Pérez del Val 2001) and Monte Alén National Park (Lasso et at. 2002) ( Map 22A ).

Comments. All the specimens examined by us present 15 scale rows at mid-body. Philothamnus heterodermus is sister to the P. carinatus species complex ( Engelbrecht et al. 2019). An asymmetric pattern in the fragmentation of head temporal scales has been detected for some specimens, such as in MNCN 22864. See the account of P. carinatus for comments on the record of Boulenger (1906) from Bahía de San Carlos, Bioko.

Specimens examined. Seven specimens. Río Muni: Bata, January 1933 ( MNCN 22864 ) ; San Joaquín de Ndyiacom (road to Ayamiken), 01 August 1986 ( EBD 25017) , 25 June 1987 ( EBD 27537) ; Miboman , 08 July 1986 ( EBD 20793) , 01 September 1984 ( EBD 18358) ; Miboman (road from Movo to Niefang), 28 July 1987 ( EBD 27544) ; Bata , December 1987 ( EBD 27775) .

Figures

FIGURE 19. From left to right: lateral, dorsal and ventral views of the head of: Philothamnus girardi (A) (EBD 27758), Philothamnus heterodermus (B) (MNCN 22864), and Philothamnus nitidus (C) (EBD 27534). Photos: AS-V.

MAPS 22 A–C. Distribution maps for Equatorial Guinean records of (A) Philothamnus heterodermus; (B) Philothamnus nitidus; (C) Thelotornis kirtlandii.