Eryx muelleri

Eryx muelleri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Genus: Eryx
Species:
E. muelleri
Binomial name
Eryx muelleri
Boulenger, 1892
Synonyms[2]
  • Gongylophis muelleri
    Boulenger, 1892
  • Eryx muelleri
    — Boulenger, 1893
  • Gongylophis muelleri
    — McDiarmid, Campbell & Touré, 1999
  • Eryx muelleri
    — Wallach et al., 2014

Eryx muelleri, known commonly as Müller's sand boa or the Saharan sand boa, is a species of snake in the family Boidae.[3][4] The species is endemic to Africa. They are kept fairly regularly in the pet industry due to their docile nature and easy care.

Etymology

The specific name, muelleri, is in honor of Swiss herpetologist Fritz Müller.[5]

Geographic range

E. muelleri is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Togo.[2]

Reproduction

E. muelleri is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominate subspecies.[2]

Nota bene: The trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Eryx.

References

  1. ^ Wilms, T. & Segniagbeto, G. (2021). "Eryx muelleri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T13264852A13264857. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T13264852A13264857.en. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Species Eryx muelleri at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ "Gongylophis ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
  4. ^ McDiarmid, Roy W., Jonathan A. Campbell, and T'Shaka A. Touré (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp.
  5. ^ Beolens, Bo, Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Gongylophis muelleri, p. 184).

Further reading

  • Angel F (1938). "Liste des reptiles du Mauritanie recueillis par la mission d'études de la biologie des Acridiens en 1936 et 1937. Description d'une sous-espèce nouvelle d' Eryx muelleri". Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle de Paris, Series 2, 10: 485–487. (Eryx muelleri subniger, new subspecies). (in French).
  • Boulenger GA (1892). "Description of a new Snake from Nubia". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Sixth Series 9: 74–76. (Gongylophis muelleri, new species).
  • Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Boidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Eryx muelleri, new combination, p. 128 + Plate V, figure 2).


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