Polemon (snake)

Polemon is a genus of rear-fanged mildly venomous snakes in the family Atractaspididae. The genus is endemic to Africa. Fifteen species are recognized as being valid.

Miodon is a synonym. The mollusc genus of family Carditidae invalidly described by Carpenter in 1863 has been renamed Miodontiscus.

Common name The common name of this genus is snake-eaters, for their habit of feeding mainly on smaller snakes.

Description In the genus Polemon the maxillary is very short, with three small teeth, followed, after an interspace, by a very large, grooved fang situated anterior to the eye. The third and fourth mandibular teeth are large and fang-like. The head is small, and not distinct from neck. The eyes are minute, with round pupils. The nostrils are in a divided nasal which does not touch the rostral, the internasal forms a suture with the first upper labial. No loreal is present. The parietal is narrowly in contact with an upper labial.

The body is cylindrical, with a very short tail. Dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, and are arranged in 15 rows. The ventrals are rounded; the subcaudals are single (entire),Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. (Genus Polemon, p. 253). or double (divided).

Species Genus Polemon -- 13 speciesSpeciesTaxon authorSubspecies*Common nameGeographic rangeP. acanthias(J.T. Reinhardt, 1860)————Reinhardt's snake-eaterGuinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone.P. aterPortillo, Branch, Tilbury, Nagy, Hughes, Kusamba, Muninga, Aristote, Behangana & Greenbaum, 2019————black snake-eaterCentral Africa, East Africa.P. barthiiJan, 1858————Guinea snake-eaterGuinea, Ivory Coast, Cameroon.P. bocourtiMocquard, 1897————Bocourt's snake-eaterCameroon, Río Muni, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire).P. christyi(Boulenger, 1903)————eastern snake-eaterDem. Rep. Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia.P. collaris(W. Peters, 1881)brevior longiorcollared snake-eaterAngola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Nigeria, Central African Republic.P. fulvicollis(Mocquard, 1887)gracilis graueri laurentiAfrican snake-eaterGabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Congo, Uganda.P. gabonensis(A.H.A. Duméril, 1856)schmidtiGaboon snake-eaterDemocratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Central African Republic.P. gracilis(Boulenger, 1911)————graceful snake-eaterSouth Cameroon.P. graueri(Sternfeld, 1908)————Grauer's snake-eaterUganda, eastern Zaire.P. griseiceps(Laurent, 1947)————Cameroon snake-eaterCameroon, Central African Republic, Congo.P. leopoldi(de Witte, 1941)————Rwanda.P. neuwiedi(Jan, 1858)————Ivory Coast snake-eaterIvory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria.P. notatus(W. Peters, 1882)aemulansCameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon.P. robustus(de Witte & Laurent, 1943)————Zaire snake-eaterDemocratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Central African Republic. * Not including the nominate subspecies.

Polemon (snake)

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