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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Series 4, Volume 65, Supplement II 
[-13.03333, 14.25000] (Monard I937b:I4I; Mertens I937a:I6, I938a:442; Laurent I950b:32; 
Mananas 1981:41). 
Taxonomic and distributional notes: Smith’s (1849) plate gives his new species name as 
Atractaspis bibronii, however, the accompanying three unnumbered pages of text give the name as 
A. inornatus, except for the last paragraph in which it is implied that the species is named for 
Bibron. Atractaspis bibronii does not occur in the area given by Smith as the type locality. FitzSi- 
mons (1962) considered the actual source of the types to be “Natal” and Broadley (1990) likewise 
considered the type locality “almost certainly Natal,” but Broadley (1991a) suggested that “the 
northern Cape Province or the western Transvaal” was the likely source of the surviving BMNH 
syntype, as scale counts of rhte surviving syntype were inconsistent with specimens from Kwa¬ 
Zulu-Natal. Laurent (1950b) in his Atractaspis revision, treated A. rostrata Gunther, 1868 as a 
subspecies of A. bibronii and later (Laurent 1964a) cited five specimens from Lunda Norte 
Province, Angola. Broadley (1959) recognized an intermediate form, A. b. bibronii x rostrata, with 
presumed extensive intergradation covering most of Zimbabwe (Broadley 1991a). Currently, 
A. b. rostrata is considered a synonym of A. bibronii, although Nagy et al. (2005) noted that there 
is considerable intraspecific variation within Atractaspis bibronii, suggesting that several cryptic 
taxa are currently subsumed under this name. Spawls and Branch (1995) and Dobiey and Vogel 
(2007) considered Atractaspis bibronii limited to the western regions of Angola, from Luanda to 
Benguela Province, however, in addition to Laurent (1964a), the species was recently collected by 
Branch and Conradie (2015) in “Carumbo,” Lunda Norte Province. 
Atractaspis boulengeri Mocquard, 1897 Boulenger’s Stiletto Snake 
Atractaspis Boulengeri Mocquard 1897a:54. Holotype: MNHN 1896.562 (collector E. Haug). Type loeality: 
“les environs de Lambarene, sur le has Ogooue, Gabon” [= Lambarebe, Moyen-Ogooue], Gabon. 
Atraetaspis boulengeri mixta: Managas (1981:40). 
Atraetaspis boulengeri: Spawls and Braneh (1995:32), Chippaux (2006:193), Dobiey and Vogel (2007:22), 
Wallaeh et al. (2014:63). 
Global conservation status (lUCN): Not Evaluated. 
Global distribution: The species is known from across Central Africa from southern 
Cameroon to the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
Ocurrences in Angola: The species presumably occurs in northwestern Angola, including the 
Cabinda enclave, Angola. There are no published records for this species for Angola, however 
Manaqas (1981), Spawls and Branch (1995) and Dobiey and Vogel (2007) suggested its occurrence 
in northern Angola. 
Taxonomic and distributional notes: Mocquard’s original description in the Bulletin du 
Museum d’Histoire Naturelle (1897a) was reprinted in Bulletin de la Societe Philomathique de 
Paris in the same year (1897b) (Wallaeh et al. 2014). 
Atractaspis congica Peters, 1877 Congo Stiletto Snake 
Atraetaspis eongiea Peters 1877a:616, pi. Figs. 2, 2a-2e. Holotype: ZMB 8644 (eolleetor F.W.A. von 
Mechow). Type locality: “Chinchoxo (Westafrika)” (Peters 1877a:616) [= Chinchoxo, Cabinda enealve], 
Angola. 
Atraetaspis eongiea: Peters (1881:150), Boeage (1887a:187, 1895a:142, 1897b:210), Ferreira (1904:116), 
Boulenger (1905:114), Schmidt (1933:15), Monard (1937b: 141, 144), Themido (1941:11), Spawls and 
Branch (1995:33), Branch (1998:63), Broadley and Cotterill (2004:46), Broadley et al. (2003:83), Wallaeh 
et al. (2014:63). 
Atraetaspis aterrima: Boeage (1873a:223), Boulenger (1915:223), Chirio and LeBreton (2007:624). 
