Short racer

The short racer (Platyceps brevis), is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to northeastern Africa.

Short racer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Platyceps
Species:
P. brevis
Binomial name
Platyceps brevis
(Boulenger, 1895)
Synonyms[1]
  • Zamenis brevis
    Boulenger, 1895
  • Coluber brevis
    — Parker, 1932
  • Haemorrhois brevis
    — Welch, 1982
  • Eremiophis brevis
    — Welch, 1983
  • Platyceps brevis
    — Schätti & Utiger, 2001

Geographic range

P. brevis is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania.[1]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[1]

  • Platyceps brevis brevis (Boulenger, 1895)
  • Playceps brevis smithi (Boulenger, 1895)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Platyceps.

Reproduction

P. brevis is oviparous.[1]

Etymology

The subspecific name, smithi, is in honor of American physician Arthur Donaldson Smith.[2]

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References
  1. Species Platyceps brevis at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Coluber smithi, p. 247).

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1895). "Rettili e Batraci ". In: "Esplorazione del Giuba e dei suoi affluenti compiuta dal Cap. V. Bottego durante gli anni 1892-93 sotto gli auspicii della Società Geografica Italiana, risultati zoologici ". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2, 15: frontispiece map + xviii + 558 pp. + Plates I-V. (Zamenis brevis, new species, pp. 13–14 + Plate III, figures 3, 3a, 3b). (title in Italian, text in English).
  • Boulenger GA (1895). "An Account of the Reptiles and Batrachians collected by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith in Western Somali-land and the Galla Country". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1895: 530-540 + Plates XXIX-XXX. (Zamenis smithi, new species, pp. 536–537 + Plate XXX, figures 2, 2a).
  • Schätti B, Charvet C (2003). "Systematics of Platyceps brevis (Boulenger 1895) and related East African racers (Serpentes Colubrinae)". Tropical Zoology 16: 93–111.



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