Psammophis leopardinus (Bocage, 1887)

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

Psammophis leopardinus (Bocage, 1887)

Specimen.

Angola: “ W. Africa ” [= Duque de Bragança ]: BMNH 1875.5.22.4 .

Comments.

On 25 May 1866 Bocage sent a young snake that he could not identify, listed as “ No. 7 – Coronella ? jeune? – Duque de Bragança ” ( NHMA /DF/GüntherColl/16/1/110 ). In response, Günther identified it as “ the young of some species of Psammophis ”, adding that “ it may be new, but it is not advisable to describe a new species from such a young specimen ” ( AHMB /CE/G79 ). Although the specimen was “ envoyés en communication ” and should have been returned to Lisbon, it was later accessioned in 1875 as “ Coluber ” from “ W. Africa ” with the note “ received some years ago from the Lisbon Museum for examination ”, and still bears the original label with the number 7. Although Bocage (1895 a) never cited any Psammophis from Duque de Bragança, this may have been because neither he nor Günther could initially identify the specimen to specific level, and it had already been presented to the British Museum when Bocage received additional comparative material that allowed him to describe new varieties to allocate his specimens ( Bocage 1887 b, 1895 a). Bocage (1887 b) described Psammophis sibilans var. leopardinus based on a juvenile collected by Capello and Ivens from “ l’intérieur de Mossamedes ” and an adult collected by Anchieta in Catumbela, and later reassigned this material to what he called Psammophis sibilans var. C ( Bocage 1895 a). While Boulenger (1896) considered Bocage’s var. leopardina to be a synonym of Psammophis sibilans , he referred the specimen sent years earlier by Bocage to Psammophis brevirostris , a determination that remained associated with the specimen until our revision. The specimen fits the description of Psammophis leopardinus and could only be confused with Psammophis zambiensis Hughes & Wade, 2002 , which is also known from Angola and could be expected to occur in the region of Duque de Bragança ( Broadley 2002; Hughes and Wade 2002; Marques et al. 2018; Trape et al. 2019). However, it can be readily distinguished from P. zambiensis based on color pattern, with pale crossbars on the back of the head, dorsum with a “ chain-like ” pattern on its anterior portion and uniform brown posteriorly, and a uniform cream ventrum (versus a greenish brown dorsum with more extensive “ chain-like ” pattern, and ventral scales irregularly edged with black on their free margin in P. zambiensis ). This record represents an extension of about 300 km from the northernmost confirmed records of the species into inland Angola, defying the assumption that Psammophis leopardinus is restricted to arid savannas and semi-desert ( Broadley 2002; Trape et al. 2019). The fact that none of the authors who dealt with the Psammophis sibilans complex cited this specimen ( Broadley 2002; Hughes and Wade 2002; Trape et al. 2019) could probably be explained by the vague locality (i. e., “ West Africa ”) stated on the British Museum records, precluding a confident identification in such a taxonomically challenging group.