Dwarf beaked snake

Dipsina multimaculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Psammophiinae
Genus: Dipsina
Jan, 1862
Species: D. multimaculata
Binomial name
Dipsina multimaculata
(A. Smith, 1847)[1]
Synonyms
  • Coronella multimaculata
    A. Smith, 1847
  • Rhamphiophis multimaculatus
    – Sternfeld, 1910
  • Dipsina multimaculata
    – Branch, 1987[2]

The dwarf beaked snake (Dipsina multimaculata), also called the western beaked snake, is a species of colubrid snake, which is endemic to southern Africa.[3] It is in the monotypic genus Dipsina.

Geographic range

It is found in southwestern Botswana, Namibia, and western and central South Africa.[4]

Description

Dipsina multimaculata is a small snake with a distinct, pointed snout. Adults may attain a total length of 40 cm (15.8 inches), including a 4.5-cm (1.8-in) tail.

It is pale buff or sandy gray dorsally, with three or five series of regular brown spots. The spots in the vertebral series are broader than long. A V-shaped brown mark is found on the back part of the head, with a diagonal brown streak from behind the eye towards the corner of the mouth. Ventrally, it is whitish.

The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 17 rows. Ventrals number 155-168 in females, the anal plate is divided, and the subcaudals are divided (paired) into 31-40 in females.[5]

References

  1. ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ↑ The Reptile Database.
  3. ↑ Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Island, Florida. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5 (Dipsina multimaculata, p. 87 & Plates 15, 17.)
  4. ↑ Branch, 2004.
  5. ↑ Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ),... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I.-XXV. (Rhamphiophis multimaculatus, p. 148.)


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