Aparallactus niger

Aparallactus niger is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae. It is endemic to Western Africa.[1]

Aparallactus niger
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Lamprophiidae
Genus: Aparallactus
Species:
A. niger
Binomial name
Aparallactus niger
Boulenger, 1897

Geographic range

It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast.[2]

Description

Aparallactus niger is completely black dorsally, to which the specific name, niger, refers. Ventrally, the ventral scales are white, edged with black, and the subcaudal scales are black in the middle and on the posterior and outer borders.

The type specimen is 33.5 cm (13 1⁄4 in) in total length, 8 cm (3 1⁄8 in) of which is the tail.

The dorsal scales are arranged in 15 rows. Ventrals 164; anal plate entire; subcaudals 60.

Portion of rostral visible from above ⅓ as long as its distance from the frontal. Internasals slightly broader than long, widely separated from the preocular. A single prefrontal, forming sutures with the nasal and the preocular. Frontal nearly 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, much shorter than the parietals. Nasal semidivided, in contact with the preocular. Two postoculars. A single temporal. Seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye, fifth and sixth in contact with the parietal. First lower labial in contact with its fellow behind the mental. Four lower labials in contact with anterior chin shield. Anterior chin shields longer than posterior chin shields.[3]

References
  1. Wallach, V. 1994. Aparallactus lineatus (Peters) and Aparallactus niger Boulenger: Two Valid Species from West Africa. Journal of Herpetology 28.1 (1994): 95-99.
  2. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Boulenger, G.A. 1897. Description of a new snake from Sierra Leone. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (6)19:154.


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