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Polemon barthii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Atractaspididae
Genus:	Polemon
Species:	P. barthii
Binomial name
Polemon barthii Jan, 1858

Polemon barthii, or the Guinea snake-eater, is a species of rear-fanged mildly venomous snake in the family Atractaspididae. The species is endemic to Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, barthii, is in honor of German explorer Heinrich Barth.

Geographic range

Polemon barthii is found in Cameroon, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of P. barthii is forest, at altitudes from sea level to 600 m (2,000 ft).

Description

Dorsally, Polemon barthii is olive-gray, the dorsal scales edged with black. The back of the head is yellowish white. Ventrally it is yellowish white.

Adults may attain a total length of 81 cm (31+7⁄8 in), including a tail 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long.

The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, and are arranged in 15 rows at midbody. The ventrals number 221-226. The anal plate is entire, and the subcaudals number 16-18, also entire.

The diameter of the eye is ⅓ to ½ its distance from the mouth. The rostral is wider than high, barely visible from above. The internasals are as long as or slightly shorter than the prefrontals. The frontal is slightly broader than the supraocular, 1⅓ to 1½ times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, much shorter than the parietals. One preocular, is in contact with the nasal. There are one or two postoculars, and 1+1 temporals. There are seven upper labials, the third and fourth entering the eye. There are four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. The first lower labial forms a suture with its fellow behind the mental. There are two pairs of chin shields, the anterior pair longer than the posterior pair.

Reproduction

Polemon barthii is oviparous.

References

1. ^ Chirio, L.; Trape, J. (2013). "Polemon barthii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T176283A17325851. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T176283A17325851.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. "Polemon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
3. ^ Species Polemon barthii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
4. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Polemon barthii, p. 18).
5. Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I- XXV. (Polemon barthii, p. 254).

Further reading

• Chippaux J-P, Jackson K (2019). Snakes of Central and Western Africa. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 448 pp. ISBN 978-1421427195.
• Jan (1858). "Plan d'une Iconographie descriptive des Ophidiens et description sommaire de nouvelles espèces des serpentes ". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris, 2e Série 10: 438-449, 514-527. (Polemon barthii, new species, p. 520). (in French).

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