Elapsoidea is a genus of venomous snakes, commonly known as African garter snakes, in the family Elapidae. Despite their common names, they are unrelated to the harmless North American garter snakes of the genus Thamnophis.
Species
The following ten species are recognized as being valid.
- Elapsoidea boulengeri <small>Boettger, 1895</small> â Boulenger's garter snake â Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Elapsoidea broadleyi <small>, 1997</small> â Broadley's garter snake â Somalia
- Elapsoidea chelazziorum <small>, 1979</small> â Somali garter snake â Somalia
- Elapsoidea guentherii <small>Bocage, 1866</small> â Günther's garter snake â Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Elapsoidea laticincta <small>(F. Werner, 1919)</small> â Werner's garter snake â Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda
- Elapsoidea loveridgei <small>Parker, 1949</small> â Loveridge's garter snake â Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda
- Elapsoidea nigra <small>Günther, 1888</small> â black garter snake â Tanzania
- Elapsoidea semiannulata <small>Bocage, 1882</small> â Angolan garter snake â throughout central Africa
- Elapsoidea sundevallii <small>(A. Smith, 1848)</small> â Sundevall's garter snake â Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
- Elapsoidea trapei <small>, 1999</small> â Senegal garter snake â Senegal, Mauritania
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Elapsoidea.
References
Further reading
- Bocage JVB (1866). "Reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus recueillis dans les possessions portugaises de l'Afrique occidentale, qui se trouvent au Muséum de Lisbonne ". Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas Physicas e Naturales, Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa 1: 57âÂÂ78. (Elapsoidea, new genus, p. 70). (in French).
- Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Genus Elapsoidea, p. 104).