Polemon (genus)

"Miodon" redirects here. The mollusc genus of family Carditidae invalidly described by Carpenter in 1863 has been renamed Miodontiscus.
Polemon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Atractaspididae
Genus: Polemon
Jan, 1858
Synonyms

Miodon Duméril, 1859

Polemon is a genus of rear-fanged venomous snakes endemic to Africa. Thirteen species are recognized.[1][2]

The common name of this genus is snake-eaters, for their habit of feeding mainly on smaller snakes.

Description

The maxillary is very short, with three small teeth, followed, after an interspace, by a very large, grooved fang situated anterior to the eye. The third and fourth mandibular teeth are large and fang-like. The head is small, and not distinct from neck. The eyes are minute, with round pupils. The nostrils are in a divided nasal which does not touch the rostral, the internasal forms a suture with the first upper labial. No loreal is present. The parietal is narrowly in contact with an upper labial.

This snake's body is cylindrical, with a very short tail. Dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, and are arranged in 15 rows. The ventrals are rounded; the subcaudals are single (entire),[3] or double (divided).

Species

Genus Polemon -- 13 species
Species[1] Taxon author[1] Subspecies*[1] Common name[2] Geographic range[2]
P. acanthias (J.T. Reinhardt, 1860) ———— Reinhardt's snake-eater Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone.
P. barthii Jan, 1858 ———— Guinea snake-eater Guinea, Ivory Coast, Cameroon.
P. bocourti Mocquard, 1897 ———— Bocourt's snake-eater Cameroon, Rio Muni, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire).
P. christyi (Boulenger, 1903) ———— eastern snake-eater Dem. Rep. Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia.
P. collaris (W. Peters, 1881) brevior
longior		 collared snake-eater Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Nigeria, Central African Republic.
P. fulvicollis (Mocquard, 1887) gracilis
graueri
laurenti		 African snake-eater Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo, Uganda.
P. gabonensis (A.H.A. Duméril, 1856) schmidti Gaboon snake-eater Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Central African Republic.
P. gracilis (Boulenger, 1911) ———— graceful snake-eater South Cameroon.
P. griseiceps (Laurent, 1947) ———— Cameroon snake-eater Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo.
P. leopoldi (de Witte, 1941) ———— Rwanda.
P. neuwiedi (Jan, 1858) ———— Ivory Coast snake-eater Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria.
P. notatus (W. Peters, 1882) aemulans Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon.
P. robustus (de Witte & Laurent, 1943) ———— Zaire snake-eater Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Central African Republic.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Polemon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 Polemon at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 5 May 2009.
  3. ↑ Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.- XXV. (Genus Polemon, p. 253).
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