South African garter snake
| South African garter snake | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Elapsoidea sundevallii | ||||||||||||
| ( Smith , 1848) |
The South African garter snake ( Elapsoidea sundevallii ), also Sundevall's garter otter , is a species of snake from the family of poisonous snakes (Elapidae) and belongs to the genus of African garter snakes ( Elapsoidea ).
A closer relationship to the North American genus of the garter snakes ( Thamnophis ) does not exist.
features
Elapsoidea sundevallii reaches a total length between 60 and 100 cm. The subspecies Elapsoidea sundevallii longicauda reaches up to 140 cm. The head is short, rounded and slightly set off from the neck. The muzzle is a little pointed. The eyes are relatively large and have a round pupil. Young snakes are drawn at regular intervals by light (cream to pale pink) and dark (brown to black) bars. This banding disappears with increasing age and gives way to a uniform gray to brown basic color of the back. Only in the case of the subspecies Elapsoidea sundevallii sundevallii the bands drawing remains in the adult consist age. The ventral side is white to grayish in color. An arrow-shaped spot appears on the neck. The poison apparatus consists of poison glands located on the side of the skull (specialized salivary glands ) and fixed fangs located in the anterior upper jaw ( proteroglyphic tooth position).
It can be confused with the East African garter snake ( Elapsoidea loveridgei ).
Pholidosis
The pholidosis (scaling) shows the following characteristics:
- 7 upper lip shields ( supralabials ), of which the 3rd and 4th touch the lower edge of the eye,
- 7 lower lip shields ( Scutum sublabialia ),
- 13 rows of smooth trunk scales ( Scuta dorsalia ) and
- 156 to 181 (males) or 138 to 161 (females) abdominal shields ( Scuta ventralia ).
Systematics
The first description of Elapsoidea sundevallii was made in 1848 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith under the name Elaps sunderwallii . The Reptile Database currently (as of 2018) has five subspecies :
- Elapsoidea sundevallii decosteri Boulenger 1888
- Elapsoidea sundevallii fitzsimonsi Loveridge 1944
- Elapsoidea sundevallii longicauda Broadley 1971
- Elapsoidea sundevallii media Broadley 1971
- Elapsoidea sundevallii sundevallii ( Smith 1848)
distribution
The distribution area includes sub-Saharan Africa areas in South Africa , Mozambique , Namibia , Botswana , Zimbabwe and Swaziland . In detail, the different subspecies are distributed as follows: Elapsoidea sundevallii sundevalli in KwaZulu-Natal , Swaziland, Transvaal (southeast), Elapsoidea sundevallii decosteri in Mozambique (south), Zululand (north), Swaziland, Elapsoidea sundevallii fitzswalli in Namibia, Botswana ), Cape Province (north), Elapsoidea sundevallii longicauda in the Transvaal (north), Zimbabwe (southeast), bordering Mozambique ( typica : Gonarezhou National Park , Zimbabwe, found at an altitude of 425 meters) and Elapsoidea sundevallii media in the Transvaal, Orange Free State , westwards to the northern Cape Province (Terra typica: Edendale near Johannesburg , Transvaal, at an altitude of 1600 meters).
The preferred habitats are variable and include coastal forests, dunes, grasslands and savannas. The biotopes are often characterized by drought, at least seasonally, but they can also be humid.
Way of life
Elapsoidea sundevallii leads a largely nocturnal, burrowing way of life and is rarely observed. The loose ground (earth, sand), animal structures, termite nests, dead wood and the like serve as hiding places. The species is most likely to be observed on the earth's surface at night when the humidity is high and after heavy rain showers, with the animals moving slowly. The range of prey primarily includes lizards, reptile eggs, frogs and other snakes and occasionally small mammals. Reproduction takes place through oviparia , i.e. laying eggs. The clutch contains around ten eggs. These measure 8 to 10 mm in length and 28 mm in width.
Elapsoidea sundevallii does not behave aggressively towards humans . When provoked, the front body is flattened as part of a warning behavior. The body can be twisted in beating movements. Poison bites usually only occur when an animal is grasped and continuously provoked.
Snake venom
The poisonous secretion of Elapsoidea sundevallii is believed to have a neurotoxic effect on prey . However, the chemistry and pharmacology of the toxins are largely unknown. Poison bites are usually not particularly effective against humans. Occasionally no serious incidents with the species have been documented.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Elapsoidea sundevallii in The Reptile Database (accessed July 28, 2018)
literature
- Ludwig Trutnau: Snakes in the terrarium. Volume 2: Venomous Snakes. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-800-1705-23 .
- Mark O'Shea: Venomous Snakes - All species in the world in their habitats. Franckh Kosmos Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-440-10619-8 .
- Chris Mattison: Encyclopedia of Snakes. BLV Buchverlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8354-0360-4 .
- Dieter Schmidt: Atlas snakes - species, keeping, care. bede-Verlag, Ruhmannsfelden 2006 / Nikol Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-86820-011-9 .