Class Reptilia Family Atractaspididae Rank Species | Subphylum Vertebrata Suborder Serpentes Genus Micrelaps Phylum Chordata Order Scaled reptiles | |
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Micrelaps vaillanti, or the Somali two-headed snake, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae. It is endemic to Africa.
Contents
Etymology
The specific name, vaillanti, is in honor of French herpetologist Léon Vaillant.
Geographic range
Micrelaps vaillanti is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, eastern Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Description
Brown dorsally, the center of each dorsal scale grayish white. Ventrals brown in the middle, whitish on the sides.
Adults may attain a total length of 28.2 cm (11 in), with a tail 32 mm (1 1⁄4 in) long.
Dorsal scales smooth, without pits, arranged in 15 rows (in 17 rows on the neck). Ventrals 171-203; anal plate divided; subcaudals also divided.
Head very flattened. Rostral large, twice as broad as deep, portion visible from above about ⅔ as long as its distance from the frontal. Internasals twice as broad as long, twice as long as the prefrontals. Frontal small, 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, much shorter than the parietals. Supraocular as long as broad. One postocular, very small. Temporals 1+1. Seven upper labials, third in contact with the prefrontal, third and fourth (or third, fourth, and fifth) entering the eye. Four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. Two pairs of chin shields, subequal in size.