80 



B. HUGHES AND E. WADE 



1 



20 



/ 

 .') 



-10°-- 



-15° — 

 -20°- 



I I I I I 



2; 



• 



• 

 / 



XT"" "\ 



/ CONGO 



\ 

 i 



! 



i 

 i 



\ • 



1 1 1 I \ I i I I I I I 



;° ) i 30° : 

 -KINSHASA I A ^\ ^ 



•• • H& ,v ^ * 



in \ o A 



l l 

 !5° 



*• 



10° 



i 

 ANGOLA \ 



i 



i 



▲ 







P 



O IS-- 



• • 



\ 

 \ 



\ ° 

 \. jQ._. 



-_ ::" °o,c 



b~"°~ v 



B T S W A 



• o 



• • c 

 o oo 

 o • 



J 

 OO 0°Q cPfCpf O 



o rOrJ 



iX'-a-./ o 

 ■\ 



\ Z I M B A B 

 \ 



N A 



1 ft ft 



°88$3 / * * ^< 



W E / J^ 



500 km 



i i i i i i 



1 "\._ 



i > l' w/ 



on° - 



20° i 25° \ 30° 7 35° 



1 i i i I I 1 l \ 1 1 i 1 I I I /I 1 1 1 



Fig. 5 Map of area of sympatry between P.'sibilans' (O, literature ref. which may include zambiensis; • specimen seen by BH or DGB and P.zambiensis 

 ▲ specimens seen). Many records taken from Broadley (1983:146. map 36 of P. 'phillipsii', others from an as yet unpublished, revised map (DGB in 

 prep.) which we have been privileged to see. Localities listed by country and quarter degree square (without 'se' prefix); sources indicated when locality 

 is a map plot without name. For locality data see Appendix 1. 



Abercorn [= Mbala] District, but none had either the characteristic 

 pattern or low ventral counts of P. zambiensis. However, he did 

 record one snake from Chinsali (10.32 CI) with only 160 ventrals 

 and 90 subcaudals, which may have been a P. zambiensis, but it was 

 apparently not preserved. Only by collecting data on a large number 

 of specimens can the limits of variability become known and 

 consistent differences in meristic data become apparent. 



P. zambiensis and P. i sibilans'' appear to be sympatric at Mbala 

 (Abercorn) (Fig. 3, se08.31C4) but all of the P. zambiensis speci- 

 mens so attributed are likely from Mweru-Wantipa (see above), so 

 that true sympatry may occur only at Mporokoso (se09.30), Ikelenge 

 (sell.24a2) Serenje (sel3.3061) and near Mchinji (13.32d4). The 

 co-occurrence over such a large distance - more than 600 km from 

 Ikelenge to Mweru Wantipa without more instances of sympatry 

 suggests the occupation of different habitats. 



P. zambiensis seems to be distinct from P. leopardinus to the south 

 and P.' sibilans'' (or i phillipsV) to the north; the true identity of the 



latter can become clearer only after analysis of specimens from the 

 whole of the Congo Basin and West Africa. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We are indebted to Donald Broadley for his usual 

 generosity with his data and advice and for the loan of specimens; to curators 

 Charles Myers and Richard Zweifel (AMNH), Georges Lenglet (IRSN, 

 Brussels). Danny Meirte (MRAC. Tervuren). Rainer Giinther (ZMB), and 

 Colin McCarthy (BMNH) for similar loans and providing one or both of us 

 with working space and answering our many queries. 



REFERENCES 



Barts, M & W.D. Haacke. 1997. Zur Reptilienfauna der Tsodilo-Berge und 



Angrenzender Gebiete im NW-Botswana. Teil 2: Sauria: 2 Serpentes. Sauria 19:15- 



21. 

 Bocage, J.V.B. du. 1 887. Melanges erpetologiques. IV. Reptiles du dernier voyage de 



MM. Capello et Ivens a travers l'Afrique. Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas, 



Physicas e naturaes. Lisboa. 10: 201-208. 



