Elapsoidea guentherii

Elapsoidea guentherii, also known commonly as Günther's garter snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae.^[2] The species is native to Central Africa.^[2]

Elapsoidea guentherii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Elapsoidea
Species:	E. guentherii
Binomial name
Elapsoidea guentherii Bocage, 1866
Synonyms[2]
Elapsoidea Guntherii Bocage, 1866 Elapsoidea hessei Boettger, 1887 Elapsoidea guentheri — Günther, 1895 Elapechis guentheri — Boulenger, 1896 Elapsoidea sundevallii güntherii — Loveridge, 1944 Elapsoidea guentherii — Welch, 1994

Etymology

The specific name, guentherii, is in honor of German-British herpetologist Albert Günther.^[3]

Geographic range

E. guentherii is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.^[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of E. guentherii is savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft).^[1]

Description

E. guentherii exhibits sexual dimorphism with males being significantly larger than females. Males may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 56 cm (22 in), but females only grow to 38.5 cm (15.2 in) 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.^[4]

Venom

E. guentherii is venomous, but no human fatalities have been reported.^[2][4]

Diet

E. guentherii preys predominately upon reptiles such as lizards and snakes, but it will also eat amphibians and termites.^[4]

Reproduction

E. guentherii is oviparous.^[1][2] In late summer an adult female may lay a clutch of as many as ten eggs.^[4]

References

1. Verburgt, L.; Pietersen, D.; Farooq, H.; Chapeta, Y. (2020). "Elapsoidea guentherii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T13265832A13265836. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T13265832A13265836.en. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
2. "Elapsoidea guentherii ". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Elapsoidea guntheri, p. 110).
4. Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Elapsoidea guentheri, p. 105 + Plate 21).

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. ISBN 978-1421427195.
• 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. ISBN 978-1775847373.