Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(F)
(E)
Plate 4.43
(A-I) African grass or sand snakes (
Psammophis
spp.).
The type genus
Psammophis
, of the family Lamprophiidae, subfamily Psammophinae, is a complex group of
African snakes with uncertain taxonomic status. Kelly et al. (2008) divided the
Psammophis
sibilans
complex into two monophyletic entities, provisionally named the “
phillipsii
” and
“
subtaeniatus
” complexes, and supported the status of many recognized
Psammophis
spp.,
but did not uphold any distinction between
P. p. phillipsii
and
P. mossambicus
. There are few
well-documented bites by
Psammophis
spp., and these include only mild local effects.
(A)
Link-marked sand snake; two-striped sand racer; mararinga; kitlaku, others
(
Psammophis biseriatus
), Kenya.
(B) Olive grass snake or racer; joppaguri
(
Psammophis phillipsii
), Gambia.
(C and D) Olive whip snake or sand snake; hissing sand snake
(
Psammophis
mossambicus
), Kenya.
(E) Link-marked sand snake; two-striped sand racer; mararinga; subhainyu
(
Psammophis orientalis
), Kenya.
(F) Sudan sand snake or racer
(
Psammophis sudanensis
), Kenya.
