Elapsoidea guentherii explained

Elapsoidea guentherii, also known commonly as Günther's garter snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae.^[1] The species is native to Central Africa.^[1]

Etymology

The specific name, guentherii, is in honor of German-British herpetologist Albert Günther.^[2]

Geographic range

E. guentherii is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of E. guentherii is savanna, at altitudes from sea level to .

Description

E. guentherii exhibits sexual dimorphism with males being significantly larger than females. Males may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of, but females only grow to SVL. Juveniles have a dorsal color pattern of alternating black and white crossbands of equal width. The pattern fades as the snakes mature, with adults becoming uniformly grayish black dorsally, and lighter gray ventrally.

Venom

E. guentherii is venomous, but no human fatalities have been reported.^[1]

Diet

E. guentherii preys predominately upon reptiles such as lizards and snakes, but it will also eat amphibians and termites.

Reproduction

E. guentherii is oviparous.^[1] In late summer an adult female may lay a clutch of as many as ten eggs.^[3]

Further reading

• Bocage JVB (1866). "Lista dos reptis dos possessões portuguezas d'Africa occidental que existem no Museo de Lisboa ". Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas Physicas e Naturaes da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa 1: 37–56. (Elapsoidea Guntherii, new species, pp. 50-51). (in Portuguese).
• Chippaux J-P, Jackson K (2019). Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 448 pp. .
• Conradie, Werner

Baptista, Ninda L.; Verburgt, Luke; Keates, Chad; Harvey, James; Júlio, Timóteo; Neef, Götz (2021). "Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi river drainages. Part 1: Serpentes (snakes)". Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 15 (2): 244–278. (in English, with an abstract in Portuguese).

• Pietersen, Darren W.

Verburgt, Luke; Davies, John P. (2021). Snakes and other Reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Cape Town: Penguin Random House South Africa. 376 pp. .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Elapsoidea guentherii . The Reptile Database . 10 December 2021.
2. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
3. [William Roy Branch|Branch, Bill]