Atractaspis duerdeni

Atractaspis duerdeni, commonly known as the beaked burrowing asp[1] or Duerden's burrowing asp, is a species of venomous snake in the family Atractaspididae.[2]

Atractaspis duerdeni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Lamprophiidae
Genus:	Atractaspis
Species:	A. duerdeni
Binomial name
Atractaspis duerdeni Gough, 1907

Etymology

The specific epithet, duerdeni, is in honor of James Edwin Duerden, Ph.D., (1865-1937) of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa.[3][4]

Geographic range

A. duerdeni is endemic to Africa.[5]

Description

A. duerdeni is cream-colored above and below. Its length is 21.6 inches or 55 cm. The dorsal scales are in 21 rows at midbody. The ventrals number 199; the anal is entire; and the subcaudals number 22, all except the first entire. The snout is prominent and subcuneiform. The rostral has a rounded horizontal edge, and the portion visible from above is a little longer than its distance from the frontal.[3]

References

1. "Atractaspis duerdeni ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
2. "Atractaspis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
3. Gough, Lewis Henry (1907). "Description of a new species of Atractaspis collected at Serowe, North Eastern Kalahari". Rec. Albany Museum 2: 178-179. (Atractaspis duerdeni, new species).
4. 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. (Atractaspis duerdeni, p. 76).
5. Spawls S, Branch B (1995). The Dangerous Snakes of Africa. Dubai: Oriental Press. ISBN 0-88359-029-8.

Further reading

• 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. (Atractaspis duerdeni, p. 63 + Plate 38).