Boaedon variegatus (Bocage, 1867)

Parrinha, Diogo, Calado, Francisco M. G., Marques, Mariana P., Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2025, Echoes of a lost museum: Revision of the herpetological collections sent by Barbosa du Bocage from the Lisbon Museum to the British Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate Zoology 75, pp. 353-404 : 353-404

Boaedon variegatus (Bocage, 1867) *

Specimen.

Angola: Benguella : BMNH 1867.7.23.23 [ paralectotype of Alopecion variegatum Bocage, 1867 and Boodon lineatus var. lineolata Bocage, 1895 ; Fig. 27 ] .

Comments.

Bocage (1867 c) described Alopecion variegatum based on three specimens from Benguela collected by Anchieta and one from Novo Redondo collected by J. A. Botelho (dates of birth and death unknown) ( Bocage 1895 a), and in the same year presented a specimen from Benguela to the British Museum ( AHMB /CE/G81 , NHMA /DF/ZOO/200/1/195 , NHMA /DF/GüntherColl/16/1/112 ). Günther (1868 a) likely did not consider this a valid species, as he did not include it in the new additions to the collection. Boulenger (1893) cited the specimen sent to the British Museum as “ one of the types ” of Alopecion variegatum , under the synonymy of Boodon lineatus , and Bocage (1895 a) later referred his specimens from coastal Angola to a new variety Boodon lineatus var. lineolata . In a recent revision of the Boaedon fuliginosus complex in Angola, Hallermann et al. (2020) validated the specific status of Boaedon variegatus and designated the British Museum specimen as paralectotype of both Alopecion variegatum and Boodon lineatus var. lineolata . Another specimen from the original type series survives in the ZMB ( ZMB 6469) and was designated lectotype ( Hallerman et al. 2020).

Figures

Figure 27. Paralectotype of Boodon variegatus and Boodon lineatus var. lineolata (BMNH 1867.7. 23.23). Photos by DP.