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Hemipenial variation in the African snake genus Crotaphopeltis Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Boiginae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2002

THOMAS ZIEGLER  and
JENS BØDTKER RASMUSSEN
THOMAS ZIEGLER
Affiliation:
Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, Germany. e-mail:dr.th.ziegler@t-online.de
JENS BØDTKER RASMUSSEN
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. e-mail:jbrasmussen@zmuc.ku.dk
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Abstract

Hemipenial variation within the six recognized species of the African snake genus Crotaphopeltis is described. The hemipenial ornamentation of the widely distributed species, C. hotamboeia and C. hippocrepis, seems fairly constant whereas the ornamentation of C. degeni and C. tornieri, species with disjunct distributions, displays relatively large intraspecific variation. In spite of the variation, the size and ornamentation of the hemipenes serve to distinguish between sympatric and parapatric species.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the Natural History Museum: Zoology Series , Volume 68 , Issue 2 , 28 November 2002 , pp. 51 - 55
Copyright
© Natural History Museum, 2002

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