Citation: Midtgaard, Rune. RepFocus - A Survey of the Reptiles of the World. (www.repfocus.dk).
Latest update:
August 22nd, 2022.
 
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Genus
Telescopus
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Afro-Asian Cat Snakes
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Westliche Katzennattern
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Vestlige Kattesnoge
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1830 |  |
Telescopus Wagler (type species: #Coluber obtusus Reuss 1834) |
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1831 | |
Tarbophis Fleischmann (type species: Tarbophis fallax Fleischmann 1831; syn. Williams & Wallach 1989) |
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1831 | |
Trigonophis Eichwald (type species: Trigonophis iberus Eichwald 1831) |
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1837 | |
Ailurophis Bonaparte (type species: Ailurophis vivax Bonaparte 1837) |
|
1935 | |
Migiurtinophis Scortecci (type species: Migiurtinophis pulcher Scortecci 1935) |
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1955 | |
Pseudotarbophis Domergue (type species: Pseudotarbophis gabesi Domergue 1955; syn. Williams & Wallach 1989) |
Contents:
14 species, of which 2 (14.3%) is endemic.
Endemism: 0%  100%
Introduced to:
Malta.
Distribution:
S. Europe, Africa, Middle East, SW. Asia.
Reported from:
Afghanistan,
Albania,
Algeria,
Angola,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Benin,
Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Botswana,
Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso,
Cameroon,
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Congo-Brazzaville,
Congo-Kinshasa,
Croatia,
Cyprus,
Djibouti,
Egypt
(incl.
Sinai),
Eritrea,
Eswatini,
Ethiopia,
Gambia,
Georgia,
Ghana,
Greece
(incl.
Aegean Islands
[incl.
Cyclades Islands,
Dodecanese Islands
(incl.
Rhodes),
Sporades Islands],
Crete),
Guinea,
Iran,
Iraq,
Israel,
Italy,
Ivory Coast,
Jordan,
Kenya,
Lebanon,
Libya,
Malawi,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Montenegro,
Morocco,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Niger,
Nigeria,
North Macedonia,
Oman,
Pakistan,
Russia,
Saudi Arabia,
Senegal,
Sierra Leone,
Slovenia,
Somalia,
South Africa
(Free State,
Gauteng,
KwaZulu-Natal,
Limpopo,
Mpumalanga,
North West Province,
Northern Cape,
Western Cape),
South Sudan,
Sudan,
Syria,
Tanzania,
Togo,
Tunisia,
Turkey
(incl.
European Turkey),
Turkmenistan,
Uganda,
United Arab Emirates,
Western Sahara,
Yemen,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe.
| |
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Telescopus beetzii
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Namib Tiger Snake, Namaqua Tiger Snake, (Beetz's Tiger Snake)
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Namibianische Tigernatter
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Namibiansk Tigersnog
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1922 | |
Tarbophis beetzii Barbour |
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Telescopus semiannulatus beetzii Loveridge 1955 |
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Telescopus beetzii Mertens 1955 |
Distribution:
Namibia,
South Africa
(Free State,
Northern Cape,
Western Cape).
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Telescopus dhara
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Arabian Cat Snake, Arabian Tiger Snake, Israelian Cat Snake, (Arabian Large-eyed Cat Snake)
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Israelische Katzennatter
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Arabisk Kattesnog
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1775 | |
Coluber dhara Forskål |
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Tarbophis dhara Anderson 1896 |
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Telescopus dhara Corkill & Cochrane 1965 |
Remarks:
Now restricted to the Arabian Peninsula and Sinai.
Previously included obtusus and tripolitanus.
Apart from local populations in S. Algeria and Chad, older records of dhara or obtusus from west of Egypt and Sudan refer to tripolitanus
(Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008; Sindaco, Venchi & Grieco 2013).
Distribution:
Egypt
(Sinai),
Israel,
Jordan,
Oman,
Saudi Arabia,
United Arab Emirates,
Yemen.
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Telescopus dhara
© Henrik Bringsøe
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Telescopus fallax
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European Cat Snake, European Tiger Snake
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Europäische Katzennatter
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Europæisk Kattesnog
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1831 | |
Tarbophis fallax Fleischmann |
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Telescopus fallax Mertens & Müller 1940 |
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1826 | |
Coluber vivax Fitzinger (Böhme (ed.) 1999) |
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1831 | |
Trigonophis iberus Eichwald |
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Tarbophis iberus Boulenger 1913 |
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Telescopus fallax iberus Schmidt 1939 |
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Telescopus iberus Frank & Ramus 1995 |
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1832 | |
Coluber carneus Dwigubskij (Böhme (ed.) 1999) |
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1837 | |
Ailurophis vivax Bonaparte (Böhme (ed.) 1999) |
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1880 | |
Tarbophis vivax f. syriacus Boettger |
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Tarbophis fallax syriacus Mertens 1924 |
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Telescopus fallax syriacus Schmidt 1939 |
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1896 | |
Tarbophis savignyi Boulenger (Böhme (ed.) 1999) |
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1927 | |
Tarbophis fallax cyprianus Barbour & Amaral |
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1939 | |
Tarbophis fallax mcewani Schmidt (Böhme (ed.) 1999) |
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1944 | |
Telescopus fallax pallidus Stepanek |
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1952 | |
Telescopus fallax multisquamatus Wettstein |
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1952 | |
Telescopus fallax rhodicus Wettstein |
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1955 | |
Telescopus fallax christianus Buchholz (Mertens & Wermuth 1960) |
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1974 | |
Telescopus fallax intermedius Gruber |
Other common names:
iberus: Caucasian Cat Snake
multisquamatus: Many-scaled Cat Snake
pallidus: Cretan Cat Snake
Remarks:
Previously included hoogstrali.
Presence in Jordan (e.g., Grillitsch & Grillitsch in Böhme (ed.) 1999) is regarded as doubtful (Disi, Modrý, Necas & Rifai 2001).
Status of records from Iraq (iberus) is uncertain, but most likely refer to tessellatus
(Schmidt 1939; Leviton, Anderson, Adler & Minton 1992; Sindaco, Venchi & Grieco 2013).
However, presence of fallax in the country is still occasionally reiterated by some authors (e.g., Habeeb & Rastegar-Pouyani 2016).
Introduced to:
Malta.
Distribution:
Albania,
Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Bulgaria,
Croatia,
Cyprus,
Georgia,
Greece
(incl.
Aegean Islands
[incl.
Cyclades Islands,
Dodecanese Islands
(incl.
Rhodes),
Sporades Islands],
Crete),
Iran,
Israel,
Italy,
Lebanon,
Montenegro,
North Macedonia,
Russia,
Slovenia,
Syria,
Turkey
(incl.
European Turkey),
Turkmenistan.
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Telescopus fallax
© Henrik Bringsøe
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Telescopus finkeldeyi
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Damara Cat Snake
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Damara-Katzennatter
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Damara-kattesnog
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2013 | |
Telescopus finkeldeyi Haacke |
Distribution:
Angola,
Namibia.
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Telescopus gezirae
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Blue Nile Cat Snake
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Sudanische Katzennatter
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Sudansk Kattesnog
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1994 | |
Telescopus gezirae Broadley |
Distribution:
Sudan.
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Telescopus hoogstraali
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Sinai Cat Snake, Desert Tiger Snake, (Hoogstraal's Cat Snake)
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Sinai-Katzennatter
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Sinai-kattesnog
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1956 | |
Telescopus hoogstraali Schmidt & Marx |
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Telescopus fallax hoogstraali Zinner 1977 |
Remarks:
Regarded as a synonym or subspecies of fallax by some authors (e.g., Zinner 1977; Grillitsch & Grillitsch 1999), but as a full species in most recent works (e.g., Bouskila 2004; Baha el Din 2006).
Distribution:
Egypt
(Sinai),
Israel,
Jordan.
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Telescopus nigriceps
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Black-headed Cat Snake
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Schwarzkopf-Katzennatter
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Sorthovedet Kattesnog
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1924 | |
Tarbophis nigriceps Ahl |
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Telescopus fallax nigriceps Leviton, Anderson, Adler & Minton 1992 |
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Telescopus nigriceps Martens 1993 |
Remarks:
Also reported from the Palestinian West Bank (e.g., Handal, Amr & Qumsiyeh 2016), but Bar & Haimovitch (2012) considered this population as fallax syriacus.
Distribution:
Iran,
Iraq,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
Syria,
Turkey.
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Telescopus obtusus
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Egyptian Cat Snake, (Northern Large-eyed Cat Snake, African Large-eyed Cat Snake)
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Ägyptische Katzennatter
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Ægyptisk Kattesnog
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1834 | |
Coluber obtusus Reuss |
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Dipsas obtusa Boulenger 1887 |
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Tarbophis obtusus Scortecci 1932 |
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Telescopus obtusus Böhme, Schmitz & Messer 1989 |
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Telescopus dhara obtusus Leviton & Aldrich 1984 |
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1895 | |
Tarbophis guentheri Anderson (Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008) |
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Tarbophis dhara guentheri Haas & Battersby 1959 |
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Telescopus dhara guentheri Spano 1972 |
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1949 | |
Tarbophis dhara somalicus Parker (syn. Geniez 2015; Spawls, Malonza & Beraduccii 2021) |
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Telescopus dhara somalicus Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008 |
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Telescopus somalicus Malonza & Bwong 2023 |
Other common names:
obtusus: Northern Egyptian Cat Snake
somalicus: Kenyan Cat Snake, (Somali Cat Snake)
Remarks:
Formerly regarded as a subspecies of dhara (e.g., Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008).
Treated as a separate species herein, following several recent works (e.g., Geniez 2015; Chippaux & Jackson 2019; Spawls, Malonza & Beraduccii 2021).
Previously included tripolitanus.
Apart from local populations in S. Algeria and Chad, older records of dhara or obtusus from west of Egypt and Sudan refer to tripolitanus
(Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008; Sindaco, Venchi & Grieco 2013).
Wallach, Williams & Boundy (2014) treated obtusus and somalicus as separate species, based on Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme (2008), however,
they must have misread the publication in which both forms are regarded as subspecies of dhara.
Nevertheless, somalicus may represent a separate species and was treated as such also by Malonza & Bwong (2023), but without discussion or references.
Distribution:
Algeria,
Chad,
Djibouti,
Egypt,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
Kenya,
Somalia,
South Sudan,
Sudan,
Tanzania,
Uganda.
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Telescopus pulcher
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Somali Cat Snake, Beautiful Cat Snake
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Somalische Katzennatter
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Somalisk Kattesnog
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1935 | |
Migiurtinophis pulcher Scortecci |
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Tarbophis pulcher Parker 1949 |
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Telescopus pulcher Welch 1982 |
Remarks:
Found close to the Somali-Ethiopian border, but no actual records are known from Ethiopia (Spawls, Mazuch & Mohammad 2023).
Distribution:
Somalia.
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Telescopus rhinopoma
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Persian Cat Snake, Iranian Cat Snake, (Indian Desert Cat Snake, Indian Desert Tiger Snake)
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Persische Katzennatter
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Persisk Kattesnog
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1874 | |
Dipsas rhinopoma Blanford |
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Tarbophis rhinopoma Boulenger 1895 |
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Telescopus rhinopoma Minton 1962 |
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1914 | |
Dipsadomorphus jollyi Wall (Smith 1943) |
Distribution:
Afghanistan,
Iran,
Pakistan,
Turkmenistan.
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Telescopus semiannulatus
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Southern Tiger Snake, Eastern Tiger Snake, Tiger Cat Snake
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Südafrikanische Tigernatter
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Sydafrikansk Tigersnog
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1849 | |
Telescopus semiannulatus Smith |
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Leptodira semiannulata Günther 1872 |
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Crotaphopeltis semiannulatus Bocage 1895 |
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Tarbophis semiannulatus Boulenger 1896 |
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1898 | |
Tarbophis semiannulatus meridionalis Werner (Broadley 1983) |
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1954 | |
Telescopus semiannulatus polystictus Mertens |
Other common names:
polystictus: Damara Tiger Snake
Distribution:
Angola,
Botswana,
Congo-Brazzaville,
Congo-Kinshasa,
Eswatini,
Kenya,
Malawi,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Rwanda,
South Africa
(Gauteng,
KwaZulu-Natal,
Limpopo,
Mpumalanga,
North West Province,
Northern Cape),
Tanzania,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe.
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Telescopus tessellatus
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Iraqi Cat Snake
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Irakische Katzennatter
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Iraqisk Kattesnog
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1908 | |
Tarbophis tessellatus Wall |
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Telescopus tessellatus Anderson 1963 |
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1939 | |
Tarbophis martini Schmidt (Leviton, Anderson, Adler & Minton 1992) |
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Telescopus tessellatus martini Welch 1983 |
Distribution:
Iran,
Iraq.
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Telescopus tripolitanus
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North African Cat Snake, Western Cat Snake
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Nordafrikanische Katzennatter
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Nordafrikansk Kattesnog
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1909 | |
Leptodira tripolitana Werner |
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Telescopus tripolitanus Trape & Mané 2002 |
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1916 | |
Tarbophis guidimakaensis Chabanaud (Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008) |
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Telescopus guidimakaensis Welch 1982 |
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1955 | |
Pseudotarbophis gabesi Domergue (Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme 2008) |
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Pseudotarbophis gabesiensis Domergue 1959 [incorrect subsequent spelling] |
Remarks:
Previously regarded as a synonym of obtusus (e.g., Schleich, Kästle & Kabisch 1996).
Validity as a separate species proposed by Crochet, Rasmussen, Wilms, Geniez, Trape & Böhme (2008).
T. guidimakaensis was previously regarded as a synonym of obtusus (e.g.; Schleich, Kästle & Kabisch 1996), of tripolitanus (e.g., Chippaux 2001),
or treated as a valid species (e.g., Padial 2006).
A record from Sierra Leone (Aylmer 1922 [as obtusus]) is considered erroneous (Trape & Baldé 2014).
Distribution:
Algeria,
Burkina Faso,
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Libya,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Morocco,
Niger,
Nigeria,
Senegal,
Sudan,
Tunisia,
Western Sahara.
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Telescopus variegatus
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Variable Cat Snake, Variegated Tiger Snake, Variable Tiger Snake
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Westafrikanische Katzennatter
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Vestafrikansk Kattesnog
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1843 | |
Dipsas variegata Reinhardt |
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Tarbophis variegatus Werner 1897 |
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Telescopus variegatus Doucet 1963 |
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1902 | |
Leptodira pobeguini Mocquard (Chippaux 2001) |
Remarks:
Records from Niger (e.g., Papenfuss 1969; Berre 1989) refer to tripolitanus (Trape & Mané 2015).
Distribution:
Benin,
Burkina Faso,
Cameroon,
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Gambia,
Ghana,
Guinea,
Ivory Coast,
Mali,
Nigeria,
Senegal,
Sierra Leone,
Togo.
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