Bull. not. Hist. Mus. Land. (Zool.) 68(2): 75-81 



XXC35699M 



Issued 28 November 2002 



On the African leopard whip snake, 

 Psammophis leopardinus Bocage, 1887 

 (Serpentes, Colubridae), with the description 

 of a new species from Zambia 



BARRY HUGHES 



57 Snaresbrook Road, London Ell 1PQ, England. 



E. WADE 



Middlesex University, Cat Hill, Barnet, Hertfordshire. EN4 8HT, England. 



SYNOPSIS. An examination of scalation and dentition of specimens in Brussels (IRSN). Tervuren (MRAC) - mostly Bredo 

 collection, and London (BMNH) from Angola. Congo-Kinshasa and Zambia suggests the existence of a species which is neither 

 P. sibilans leopardinus of which the type is from Namibia, nor P. 'sibilans' [mossambicus] of Congo-Kinshasa and Zambia, but 

 a new species previously unnamed. 



INTRODUCTION 



Bocage (1887:206) described from Catumbela, Angola a Psam- 

 mophis (MBL 1798, now destroyed) with a striking reticular pattern 

 on the neck and anterior part of the body as a variety of Psammophis 

 sibilans, a taxonomic treatment later followed by Broadley (1977). 

 More recently Brandstatter (1995, 1996: Fig. 4) has recognised P. 

 sibilans as occurring no further south than the northern part of 

 Tanzania and has treated Bocage's variety as P. brevirostris 

 leopardinus, following an earlier practice by Broadley ( 1 97 1 ). He has 

 followed Broadley (op. cit.) in assigning to this subspecies Zambian 

 specimens showing the same reticular pattern on the neck. However, 

 such a pattern occurs sporadically elsewhere, as in West African 

 specimens of P. sibilans (BMNH 1930.6.5.8 from Mogonori, Ghana; 

 1956.1.5.87 from Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria; CM 24636 from Accra; 

 MNHN 1 985.442-3 from Ghana; ZMH R04466 from Gana Gana or 

 Segbana, Niger Delta, Nigeria: these have neck bars sometimes 

 interconnected as in leopardinus. Dependence on pattern for identifi- 

 cation in a genus whose species are notorious for their variability is 

 unconvincing. In an attempt to find other, more reliable criteria by 

 which to distinguish species of Psammophis, total tooth counts were 

 undertaken and revealed significant differences between specimens 

 of ''leopardinus'' from Angola and those from Zambia. Secondly, the 

 Zambian specimens are often of a colour pattern rarely met with 

 elsewhere during the study of several thousand specimens from all 

 parts of Africa and the Middle East. Thirdly, the ventral and subcaudal 

 counts of the Zambian specimens are lower than those from neigh- 

 bouring localities in Zambia and Congo-Kinshasa. Fourthly, a SEM 

 micrograph of a dorsal scale of a specimen from Ikelenge (Brandstatter, 

 1995: Fig. 39) differs considerably from those of species assigned to 

 the P. sibilans complex. For these reasons, it is thought necessary to 

 coin a new name for the Zambian specimens. 



SYSTEMATICS 



Psammophis zambiensis sp. nov. Zambian Whip Snake 

 Psammophis sibilans, not Linnaeus 1758, Pitman, 1934: 297 (part. 



Chimikombe specimens only). 

 © The Natural History Museum, 2002 



Dromophis lineatus, not Dumeril & Bibron, Laurent 1956:247 

 Kundelungu male & female. 



Psammophis ? sibilans Broadley & Pitman 1960: 445 



Psammophis brevirostris leopardinus Broadley 1971:88; 

 Brandstatter, 1995: 53, Fig. 39 and 1996: 48 (Zambian specimens 

 only); Haagner el al. 2000: 16. 



Psammophis sibilans leopardinus (Zambian specimens) Broadley 

 1977:18 



Psammophis brevirostris leopardinus Brandstatter 1996:48 (Zam- 

 bian specimens only) 



Holotype. BMNH 1 959. 1.1.81 supposedly from ' Abercorn' (now 

 Mbala) area of Zambia, part of the H.J. Bredo collection, sent on 

 from Brussels, but likely to be from Mweru-Wantipa - see discussion 

 (Figs 1-3). 



PARATYPES. IRSN 2561,2565-6 of same origin, BMNH 

 1932.9.9.132-3 from Chimikombe at 4500 ft. (= Chimilombe, 

 Solwezi District); NMZB 10635-6, 10736, 10757 from Ikelenge 

 (Broadley 1991:529); IRSN 2562 from Mambwe; IRSN 2567 and 

 PEM 1438/ 12 from Mporokoso District (probably Mweru-Wantipa); 

 IRSN 2563 from Mweru-Wantipa, and IRSN 2564 from an unknown 

 source in Zambia; MRAC 18622-3 SERAM, Kundelungu Plateau 

 1750 m, Congo-Kinshasa (Laurent 1956:247 as Dromophis lineatus). 

 All specimens, except two (BMNH 1932.9.9.132-3) are female; 

 Haagner et al (2000) have listed two more males as i P brevirostris 

 leopardinus'. 



Diagnosis. Often distinguished by a combination of the reticular 

 body pattern of leopardinus but lacking the higher tooth counts of 

 the latter (Table L). A detailed description of colouration, based on 

 5 specimens, is given by Broadley & Pitman (1960:445) but can be 

 summed up by saying that they are greenish rather than the usual 

 khaki-brown and the scales heavily edged in black. Unlike associ- 

 ated specimens of P.'sibilans' the vertebral 'chain' is more like a 

 stripe, the lighter marking on each vertebral scale being more of a 

 line than a spot; and behind the eyes the head is crossed by three 

 transverse light bars - a common feature in many Psammophis spp. 

 but these are narrow, as in Pangolensis or Dromophis lineatus. 

 Smaller specimens (e.g. Fig. 2-3) are more distinctly marked with 

 greater contrast around the body. As Haagner et al (2000) have 



