Egyptian sand boa

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Egyptian sand boa
Egyptian sand boa (Eryx colubrinus)

Egyptian sand boa ( Eryx colubrinus )

Systematics
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily : Boa-like (Booidea)
Family : Boas (Boidae)
Subfamily : Sand boas (Erycinae)
Genre : Sand boas ( Eryx )
Type : Egyptian sand boa
Scientific name
Eryx colubrinus
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The Egyptian sand boa ( Eryx colubrinus , syn .: Gongylophis colubrinus ), also East African sand boa or sand boa , is a non-poisonous snake from the subfamily of sand boas ( Erycinae) within the boas (Boidae).

features

It becomes an average of 50 to 70, a maximum of 80 centimeters long. The body is stocky with a short tail and a blunted head that is not separated from the body. The eyes are very small and sit on the top of the head, the pupil is slit-shaped. The animals have 12 to 14 shields of the upper lip ( supralabials ) and between these and the eyes two to three rows of small shields under the eyes ( subocularia ), the scales on the underside of the head are also small and smooth.

The entire body is covered with small scales, which are smooth or slightly keeled, especially in the front part of the body, the keel becomes stronger towards the tail end. Around the middle of the body this species has 47 to 53 rows of scales, rarely 55. The ventral scales are very narrow. Some of the animals have a very colorful pattern. As a rule, they have black spots that can connect to form zigzag bands on the back, on a yellowish-gray to very orange-colored background. The belly is yellowish-gray to gray.

Distribution area and habitat

Distribution of the Egyptian sand boa in Africa

The Egyptian sand boa is widespread in northeast Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula in the dry semi-desert and steppe regions. The main distribution area stretches from Egypt via Ethiopia and Sudan to Somalia and northern Kenya .

Way of life

Female about 18 months old

The Egyptian sand boa is a typical ground dweller. It digs into the upper layers of sand and loose soil and also hides during the day under stones or other available hiding places such as the roots of the vegetation. It is crepuscular and nocturnal and hunts for small mammals and reptiles, which it grabs with its jaws and kills by wrapping itself around its body.

The mating season of the snake is in the summer months. In autumn the young snakes are born alive ( ovoviviparous ), and a litter consists of up to 15 young animals. These shed their skin for the first time around eight to ten days after birth.

Systematics

The Egyptian sand boa belongs to the real sand boas of the genus Eryx . Together with Eryx conicus , Eryx muelleri , Eryx somalicus and Eryx whitakeri , it is classified by some authors in a separate genus Gongylophis . However, this genre is not generally accepted.

The Egyptian sand boa is divided into two subspecies:

  • Eryx colubrinus colubrinus
  • Eryx colubrinus loveridgei (Kenya sand boa )

literature

  • Ulrich Gruber: The snakes in Europe and around the Mediterranean. Franck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-440-05753-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ B. Lanza, A. Nistri: Somali Boidae (genus Eryx Daudin 1803) and Pythonidae (genus Python Daudin 1803) (Reptilia Serpentes) . In: Tropical Zoology . tape 18 , 2005, p. 67-136 .
  2. ↑ a b Eryx colubrinus in The Reptile Database

Web links

Commons : Egyptian Sand Boa ( Gongylophis colubrinus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files