Thelotornis kirtlandii ( Hallowell, 1844 )

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 : 83

Thelotornis kirtlandii ( Hallowell, 1844)

Figure 20A

Leptophis kirtlandii Hallowell, 1844: 62 . Type locality: “ Liberia ”, Republic of Liberia.

Oxybelis lecomtei Duméril & Bibron, 1854: 821 . Type locality: “ Gabon ”.

Tragops rufulus Duméril & Bibron, 1854: 827 . Type locality: “ Sénégal ”.

Dryophis kirtlandii ( Hallowell, 1844) : Hallowell 1854b: 100.

Oxybelis violacea Fischer, 1856: 91 . Type locality: “ Edina, Grand Bassa County, West-Afrika ”.

Oxybelis kirtlandii ( Hallowell, 1844) : Hallowell 1857: 59.

Thelotornis kirtlandii ( Hallowell, 1844) : Fischer 1884b: 11.

Distribution. This species ranges across tropical forests from West Africa ( Guinea Bissau) to East Africa at southern Sudan and Uganda, and south to Angola. In Equatorial Guinea it has been recorded in the islands of Bioko ( Günther 1863a; Bocage 1895 a, 1903) at Bahía de San Carlos ( Boulenger 1906; Loveridge 1944; Capocaccia 1961a) and Elobey (Pérez del Val 2001), and in Río Muni at Bata (Pérez del Val 2001), Cabo San Juan ( Boulenger 1905; Pérez del Val 2001) and Monte Alén National Park ( Lasso et al. 2002) ( Map 22C ).

Comments. We provide the first record of this species for the Island of Corisco. The specimens MNCN 23257 and MNCN 23259 contained two and six eggs respectively (labelled as follows: MNCN 23260 for the two eggs of the female MNCN 23257, and MNCN 23258 for the six eggs of the female MNCN 23259 ). The eggs are elongated in shape; both MNCN 23260 are around 5,1 x 1,5 cm, whereas the six eggs ( MNCN 23260 ) are around 4 x 1,8 cm. There is a record from iNaturalist at Riaba, Bioko (03°21′19.00″N, 08°42′54.06″E).

Specimens examined. Twelve specimens. Island of Corisco ( MNCN 23257 , MNCN 23259 ). Island of Elobey ( MNCN 23261 ) . Bioko : 1876-1877 ( MNCN 23264–23265 ) . Río Muni: Bata , Litoral, July 1891 ( MNCN 23262 ) ; Cabo San Juan , likely as part of the material examined by Boulenger (1905) ( MNCN 23263 ) ; Miboman , December 1987 ( EBD 27756) ; Miboman (road from Movo to Niefang ), February 1987 ( EBD 27540) ; San Joaquín de Ndyiacom (road to Ayamiken ), 01 August 1986 ( EBD 25012) ; San Joaquín de Ndyiacom , 1990 [2 specimens labelled as B9500 and B9632; both with a shared number ( EBD 31495) with a specimen of Thrasops batesii ] .

Figures

FIGURE 20. From left to right: lateral, dorsal and ventral views of the head of: Thelotornis kirtlandii (A) (MNCN 23261), Thrasops aethiopissa (B) (EBD 20821), and Thrasops batesii (C) (EBD 27732). Photos: AS-V.

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