Micrelaps

Micrelaps
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Micrelapidae
Genus:	Micrelaps; Boettger, 1880
Synonyms
	Elaposchema ; Mocquard, 1888;

Common names: two-headed snakes.

Micrelaps is a genus of venomous rear-fanged atractaspidid snakes found in Africa and the Middle East. Currently, five species are recognized.^[2]

Species

Species^[2]	Taxon author^[2]	Subsp.*^[2]	Common name^[3]	Geographic range^[3]
Genus Micrelaps - five species
M. bicoloratus	Sternfeld, 1908	moyeri	Kenya two-headed snake	Kenya
M. boettgeri	Boulenger, 1896	————	Boettger's two-headed snake	Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
M. muelleri^T	Boettger, 1880	————		Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon
M. tchernovi	Y.L. Werner, Babocsay, Carmely & Thuna, 2006	————		Israel, Jordan
M. vaillanti	(Mocquard, 1888)	————	Somali two-headed snake	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, eastern Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda

*) Not including the nominate subspecies ^T) Type species

Taxonomy

One new species, M. tchernovi, was described in 2006 by Y.L. Werner, Babocsay, Carmely, and Thuna. The authors separate this species from M. muelleri, which, according to them, lives (in the southern Levant) in the mesic Mediterranean zone, whereas M. tchernovi inhabits the semiarid Irano-Turanian zone in the Jordan Valley of Israel and Jordan. The type locality is the central Jordan Valley.^[3]^[4]

References

^ Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. London. p. 248.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Micrelaps". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c Genus Micrelaps at The Reptile Database. Accessed 17 August 2007.
^ Werner, Y. L., Babocsay, G., Carmely, H. & M. Thuna (2006): Micrelaps in the southern Levant: variation, sexual dimorphism, and a new species (Serpentes: Atractaspididae). - Zoology in the Middle East 38: p. 29-48. Abstract:

Böttger, O. 1880. Die Reptilien und Amphibien von Syrien, Palaestina und Cypern. Ber. senckenb. naturf. Ges. 1880:136.

[Boulenger,_G.A_1896._p._248-1] Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III. London. p. 248.

[ITIS-2] "Micrelaps". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 August 2007.

[EMBL-3] Genus Micrelaps at The Reptile Database. Accessed 17 August 2007.

[4] Werner, Y. L., Babocsay, G., Carmely, H. & M. Thuna (2006): Micrelaps in the southern Levant: variation, sexual dimorphism, and a new species (Serpentes: Atractaspididae). - Zoology in the Middle East 38: p. 29-48. Abstract:

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