Psammophis phillipsi, (Hallowell, 1844)

Trape, Jean-François, Crochet, Pierre-André, Broadley, Donald G., Sourouille, Patricia, Mané, Youssouph, Burger, Marius, Böhme, Wolfgang, Saleh, Mostafa, Karan, Anna, Lanza, Benedetto & Mediannikov, Oleg, 2019, On the Psammophis sibilans group (Serpentes, Lamprophiidae, Psammophiinae) north of 12 ° S, with the description of a new species from West Africa, Bonn zoological Bulletin 68 (1), pp. 61-91 : 71-73

PSAMMOPHIS PHILLIPSI (Hallowell, 1844)

Phillips’ Whip Snake, Psammophis de Phillips, Phillips-Sandrennnatter

Coluber Phillipsii Hallowell, 1844 , Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil.: 169. Type locality: Liberia. Lectotype: ANSP 5112, designated by Broadley 1977: 24.

Psammophis Phillipsii Hallowell, 1854: 100 & 1887: 69.

Psammophis irregularis Fischer, 1856: 92 . Type locality: Peki, Ghana; Günther, 1858: 137. Holotype apparently lost according to Hughes & Wade 2004. Duméril, 1860: 208, Pl. xvii, fig. 9; Jan & Sordelli, 1870: livr. 34, Pl. iv, fig. 1–2; Matschie, 1893: 212.

Psammophis sibilans (not Linnaeus) Werner, 1902: 338 ( Togo); Klaptocz, 1913: 286; Aylmer, 1922: 21; Barbour & Loveridge, 1930a: 773 ( Liberia); Monard, 1940: 177.

Psammophis notosticta (not Peters) Matschie, 1893: 212 ( Togo).

Psammophis regularis Sternfeld, 1908a: 412 , 428 ( Togo); 1909b: 20 ( Togo); Chabanaud, 1916: 377; 1917: 12 ( Benin).

Psammophis sibilans phillipsi Loveridge, 1938: 59 ; 1940: 41 (part); 1946: 246; Leston, 1950: 84; Villiers, 1950: 98; 1954: 1242; Angel et al., 1954: 396; Condamin, 1958: 255; 1959: 1359; Taylor & Weyer, 1958: 1217; Doucet, 1963: 307; Menzies, 1966: 175; Roux-Estève, 1969: 121; Balletto et al., 1973: 101; Villiers, 1975: 140.

Psammophis sibilans sibilans (not Linnaeus) Loveridge, 1940: 30 (part); Villiers, 1956: 158; 1966: 1765; Doucet, 1963: 306 (part).

Psammophis sibilans var. phillipsi Cansdale, 1949: 106 ( Ghana).

Psammophis phillipsi Leston & Hughes, 1968: 754 ; Hughes & Barry, 1969: 1023; Böhme, 1978: 398 (part); Joger, 1981: 331, fig. 16; Hughes, 1983: 346, 353 (part); Roman, 1984: 23; Butler & Reid, 1990: 32 (part); Gruschwitz et al., 1991: 30 ( Gambia); Cadle, 1994: 119; Brandstätter, 1995: 75 (part); Böhme, 2000: 71; Ineich, 2003: 619; Luiselli et al., 2004: 415 (part); Villiers & Condamin, 2005: 144; Trape & Mané, 2006: 150; Chippaux, 2006: 178 (part); Ullenbruch et al., 2010: 43; Hughes, 2012: 123; Trape & Baldé, 2014: 316; Trape & Mané, 2017: 120.

Psammophis cf. phillipsii Rödel et al., 1995: 7 ; 1999: 170.

Description. (180 specimens examined) Nostril pierced between 2 (rarely 3) nasals; preocular 1, usually widely separated from frontal; postoculars 2; temporals usually2+2 or 2+3; supralabials 8 (very rarely 7), the 4 th & 5 th entering orbit; infralabials usually 10 (rarely 9 or 11), the first 4 (very rarely 5) in contact with anterior sublinguals; dorsal scales in 17-17-13 rows; ventrals 161–183; cloacal usually entire (9% divided); subcaudals 89–115. Brandstätter (1995: Fig. 56–57) illustrated photomicrographs of a mid-dorsal scale of SMF 20067 from Ghana.

Dorsum olive brown, uniform in most specimens ( Fig. 20 ), rarely with black-edged mid-dorsal scales forming black lines ( Fig. 21 ), or with irregularly scattered black scales on the body anteriorly ( Fig. 6 ). Top of head usually uniform, but reticulations may be present, including a double pale line on the frontal ( Fig. 6 ). Each labial and sublingual is usually adorned with a dark spot. Venter yellow or white, uniform or with lateral rows of black spots or short streaks or irregular black speckling.

Size. Largest specimen (MCZ 53726 – Achimota, Ghana) 1,280 + 533 = 1,813 mm,

Remarks. Brandstätter (1995) and Hughes (1999) first restricted the name P. phillipsi to the uniform olive form with an entire cloacal shield in West Africa, where it occupies forest clearings and moist savanna. Our molecular data also support this view for the occasional West African specimens with a divided cloacal shield and black dorsal blotches ( P. irregularis Fisher ).

Habitat. Moist savannas and deforested rainforest areas of West Africa from coastal Gambia to Nigeria.

Distribution. Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, southern Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria.

Figures

Fig. 20. Psammophis phillipsi. Mt Nimba (Guinea).

Fig. 21. Psammophis phillipsi. Sequenced specimen IRD 5002.G. Kindia (Guinea).

Fig. 6. Psammophis phillipsi “irregularis”. Sequenced specimen IRD 44.T. Vicinity of Kpalimé (Togo).