Günther's black snake

Bothrolycus
	Illustration of Bothrolycus ater and Rhampholeon spectrum from Albert Günther's original description
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Boodontinae
Genus:	Bothrolycus; Günther, 1874
Species
	Bothrolycus ater

Günther's Black Snake, Bothrolycus ater, is a poorly-known colubrid snake from central Africa. It is the only member of the genus, Bothrolycus. This snake is notable as one of the few snakes with notable sexual dimorphism (males have 17 scale-rows, females have 19), as well as possessing a small pit anterior to the eye. While superficially similar to the thermal pits of vipers, the function remains unknown.^[2]

Illustration of the holotype of Pseudoboodon albopunctatus, now a synonym of Bothrolycus ater

Found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire).

References

^ Günther, C. L. G. (1874). Description of some new or imperfectly known species of Reptiles from the Cameroon Mountains. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1874: 442-445.
^ http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/09/everything_about_bothrolycus.php

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[1] Günther, C. L. G. (1874). Description of some new or imperfectly known species of Reptiles from the Cameroon Mountains. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1874: 442-445.

[2] ttp://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/09/everything_about_bothrolycus.php

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