64 



D.G. BROADLEY AND V. WALLACH 



chequered in black and yellow above and below. Adults black 

 above, chin and throat pale yellow, rest of venter dark olive. 



Size. Largest 6 (BMNH 66.1.28.6 - Sierra Leone, paratype) 670 

 + 495 = 1165 mm; largest 9 (BMNH 1911.6.30.2 - Axim, Ghana, 

 holotype) 682 + 403 = 1085 mm. Cansdale (1961) states that this 

 species can exceed 210 cm. 



Habitat. Lowland forest. 



Distribution. Guinea east to southwestern Nigeria (Fig. 5). 



Thrasops jacksonii Giinther 



Jackson's Bold-eyed Tree Snake 



Thrasops Jacksonii Giinther, 1895, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 15: 528. 

 Type locality: Kavirondo, Kenya. 



Rhamnophis jacksonii Boulenger, 1896: 632. 



Thrasops Rothschildi Mocquard, 1905, Bull. Mus. natn. Hist. nat. 

 11: 287. Type locality: 'Afrique orientale anglaise'. 



Thrasops jacksonii jacksonii Loveridge, 1936: 249, 1944: 134 & 

 1957: 264; Bogert, 1940: 58; Witte, 1953: 200; Laurent, 1956: 

 187, 354 & 1960: 46; Roux-Esteve, 1965: 66, fig. 17; Villiers, 

 1966: 1739; Bourgeois, 1968: 124, 278, fig. 51; Pitman, 1974:99, 

 PI. G, fig. 4; Spawls, 1978: 5; Broadley, 1991: 532; Hinkel, 1992: 

 319, PI. 306; Trape & Roux-Esteve, 1995: 40. 



Diagnosis. Dorsal scales in 19 (very rarely 17 or 21) rows at 

 midbody; ventrals 187-214; cloacal divided; subcaudals 129-155; 

 usually two labials in contact with lowest postocular. 



Variation. Supralabials 8 (rarely 9, very rarely 7), fourth and 

 fifth (rarely fifth and sixth) entering orbit; infralabials 9-13, the first 

 4-6 in contact with anterior sublinguals; preoculars 1-2 (rarely 3); 

 postoculars 3 (very rarely 2 or 4), usually 2 labials in contact with 

 lowest; temporals 1 + 1 (very rarely 1 + 2); no occipitals. Dorsals 

 keeled in 19 (very rarely 17 or 21) rows at midbody; ventrals 181- 

 214; cloacal divided; subcaudals 129-155 pairs. 



Coloration in life. Subadults dark olive above, mottled with 

 black and buff posteriorly, greenish yellow below, becoming cheq- 

 uered black and yellow posteriorly. Adults uniform black above and 

 below, or with the throat yellow or greyish. Iris of eye black. 



Size. Largest 6 (AMNH 12288) 1320 + 580= 1 900 mm. largest 5 

 (AMNH 12290) 1550 + 610 = 2160 mm, both from the Ituri Forest, 

 Orientale Province, D.R.C. (Schmidt, 1923). Pitman (1974) puts the 

 maximum length at about 2300 mm. 



Habitat. Rain forest and gallery forests from about 200 m in the 

 lower Congo region to 2400 m on Mount Elgon (Pitman, 1974). 



Distribution. From the lower Congo, east through the Congo 

 basin to southern Central African Republic, southern Sudan, Uganda, 

 western Kenya and northwestern Zambia (Broadley, 1991) (Fig. 5). 



Thrasops schmidti Loveridge 



Schmidt's Bold-eyed Tree Snake 



Thrasops jacksonii schmidti Loveridge, 1936, Proc. biol. Soc. Wash- 

 ington 49: 63. Type locality: Meru Forest, Mount Kenya, Kenya; 

 1944: 137 & 1957: 264; Spawls, 1978: 5. 



Diagnosis. Dorsal scales in 17 rows; ventrals 168-184; subcaudals 

 121-149; two labials in contact with lowest postocular. 



DESCRIPTION. Supralabials 8, the fourth and fifth entering the 

 orbit; infralabials 10-12, the first 4 or 5 in contact with anterior 

 sublinguals; preocular 1; postoculars 3, the lowest in contact with 2 



labials; temporals 1 + 1; no occipitals. Dorsals in 17 (rarely 19) rows 

 at midbody, faintly keeled; ventrals 172-184; cloacal divided; 

 subcaudals 121-147 pairs. 



Coloration in life. Subadult olive brown above, greyish white 

 below, subcaudals grey. Adults uniform black. 



Size. Largest 8 (MCZ 9276 - Meru Forest, Kenya, holotype) 700 

 + 365 = 1065 mm; largest? (NMK 1222 - Embu Forest, Kenya) 

 1 200 + 455 = 1 655 mm; largest unsexed (formerly NMK - Muthaiga, 

 Nairobi, Kenya, paratype) 1671 +584 = 2255 mm (Loveridge, 1923. 

 1936). 



Habitat. Montane forest. 



Distribution. Forests of the Kenya highlands from Mount Kenya 

 south to Nairobi (Fig. 5). 



Remarks. T schmidti is readily diagnosable on ventral counts 

 and is separated from the population of T jacksonii in the Kakamega 

 Forest by 300 km, including the dry rift valley, so it is considered to 

 represent an independently evolving taxon. 



Rhamnophis aethiopissa Giinther 



Splendid Dagger-tooth Tree Snake 



Rhamnophis aethiopissa Giinther, 1862, Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (3) 9: 



129, PI. x. Type locality: West Africa; Roux-Esteve, 1965: 65, fig. 



16;Chippaux, 1999:97. 

 Thrasops splendens Andersson, 1901, Bihang Till K. Svenska Vet.- 



Akad. Handl. 27(5): 11, PI. 1, fig. 8. Type localities: Bibundi & 



Mapanja, Cameroon. 

 Rhamnophis ituriensis Schmidt, 1923, Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist. 



49: 81, fig. 4. Type locality: Niapu, Belgian Congo [= D.R.C.]; 



Witte, 1941:202. 

 Rhamnophis aethiopissa elgonensis Loveridge, 1929, Bull. U. S. 



natn,. Mus. 151: 24. Type locality: Yala (= Lukosa) River at the 



foot of Mount Elgon, Kenya; 1944: 129. 

 Rhamnophis aethiopissa aethiopissa Loveridge, 1944: 126; Perret, 



1961: 136; Villiers. 1966: 1739; Stucki-Stirn, 1979: 335, figs. 

 Rhamnophis aethiopissa ituriensis Loveridge, 1944: 128; Laurent. 



1956: 189, 355; 1960: 47 & 1964: 108; Bourgeois, 1968: 109, fig. 



43^6; Broadley, 1991:532. 

 Thrasops aethiopissa elgonensis Loveridge, 1957: 264; Pitman, 



1974: 101, PI. T, fig. 3; Spawls, 1978: 5. 

 Thrasops aethiopissa aethiopissa Hughes & Barry, 1969: 1018; 



Trape & Roux-Esteve, 1995: 40. 

 Thrasops (Rhamnophis) aethiopissa Hinkel, 1992: 144, PI. 130. 



Diagnosis. Dorsal scales in 15-17 (rarely 19) rows at midbody, 

 the vertebral row enlarged; ventrals 154-179; cloacal divided; 

 subcaudals 1 17-159; two or three labials in contact with the lowest 

 postocular: two large occipitals. 



Description. Supralabials 6-9, the 3 rd & 4 ,h . 4 ,h & 5 ,h or 5 th & 6 th 

 entering orbit; infralabials 7-11, the first 3-6 in contact with the 

 anterior sublinguals; preocular 1 (very rarely 2); postoculars 2-3 

 (very rarely 4); a single temporal; two large occipitals (one longitu- 

 dinally divided and the other semidivided in NMZB-UM 2548). 

 Dorsals smooth, or vertebral and paravertebral rows keeled (Perret, 

 1961) in 15-17 (very rarely 13 or 19) rows at midbody (usually 17 

 rows in West Africa, Cameroon, Gabon and Central African Repub- 

 lic, 15 rows elsewhere); ventrals 154-179; cloacal divided; 

 subcaudals 1 1 7- 1 59 pairs, the lowest counts in Uganda and western 

 Kenya. 



