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Environmental Information Service, Namibia for the Ministry of Environment,
Forestry and Tourism, the Namibian Chamber of Environment and the Namibia
University of Science and Technology.
The Namibian Journal of Environment (NJE) covers broad environmental areas of ecology, agriculture, forestry,
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SECTION C: OPEN ARTICLES
Recommended citation format:
Theart F, Ping TJ, Engelking K & Becker FS (2022) Range
extension of Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia
(Laurenti, 1768) in
Namibia. Namibian Journal of Environment 6 C: 7-9.
Cover photo: AB Makhado
Namibian Journal of Environment 2022 Vol 6. Section C: 7-9
7
Range extension of Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia (Laurenti, 1768) in Namibia
F Theart1, TJ Ping2, K Engelking1, FS Becker3
URL: https://www.nje.org.na/index.php/nje/article/view/volume6-theart
Published online: 25th May 2022
1 Namibia University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences, Windhoek, Namibia.
francois.theart@gmail.com.
2 Tyrone Ping - Exploring Southern African Herpetofauna, Cape Town, South Africa.
3 School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;
National Museum of Namibia, Department of Natural Sciences, Windhoek, Namibia
Date received: 7th March 2022; Date accepted: 9th May 2022.
Abstract
While Namibia has a high diversity of reptiles (Herrmann & Branch 2013), it is deficient in records for most reptile species, and several
distributions are still poorly understood. We extend the known range for Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia by more than 700 km southwest from
the nearest published Namibian record, and more than 150 km southeast from the nearest recorded museum record. This represents one
of the most arid records for the species.
Keywords: Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia, Namibia, range extension
Background
Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia is a medium-sized, rear-fanged colubrid which feeds largely on amphibians. It is widely
distributed throughout Southern Africa and inhabits most biomes with the exception of rainforests and hyper arid regions
(Engelbrecht et al. 2020). This species is typically associated with areas with a high annual rainfall or permanent sources of
water (Ping pers. obs.). Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia is known in Namibia from a few localities in the far northeast. Previous
publications indicate its presence in the Otjozondjupa Region (Griffin 2003, Branch 1994), although the exact locations
were not previously published. It may also occur in the Kavango, Omusati, and Oshikoto regions (Bauer pers. com. 2021).
Figure 1: The original image as supplied by the observer is shown in panel a. The head is shown enhanced in panel b, clearly showing the dark
temples, which are unique to
Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia. Panel c presents an image of the same species, shown here for comparison (photo:
T Ping).
Namibian Journal of Environment 2022 Vol 6. Section C: 7-9
8
Results
On the evening of 21st of March 2021 shortly after sunset, the owner of Exito Safaris observed a small snake near their
home. Unable to identify the species the farmer sent an image of the snake to FT (see Figure 1). Despite the poor quality
of the image, FT was able to confidently identify the snake as Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia due to the presence of dark
temples on the head, a pale colour on the upper and lower lip, a creamy white belly and a slate grey body. Considering the
area, size of the snake and the head colouration, there are no other likely candidate species for this photograph. The
closest other species in terms of appearance would be the black-headed centipede eater (Aparallactus capensis), which
does not have a brown tip to the snout, pale upper lip, or a similar head shape; the body of A. capensis is also of notably
more slender build. Scale counts and Snout-Vent Length measurements were not taken as the snake was relocated by the
observer shortly after the photos were taken. This observation (S21.664188 E18.778358) serves as the first confirmed
Figure 2: The current range of Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia in yellow, and the suggested range update in dark grey (upper panel); the new
record is indicated by a red diamond; previously unpublished records from the National Museum of Namibia as blue circles; the nearest
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, 2022) records as yellow circles; mean annual rainfall is indicated in grey, with isohyets
labelled in dark grey text (bottom panel).
Namibian Journal of Environment 2022 Vol 6. Section C: 7-9
9
record from the Omaheke Region, which is at the lower end of the annual rainfall range in which this species is known to
occur (Wagner et al. 2021; see Figure 2). This record lies approximately 158 km southeast of the nearest record in the
National Museum of Namibia (NMNW) Herpetology Collection, which was collected from the adjacent Waterberg
(Figure 2; NMNW R1990). This record, and other records from the NMNW, have not been published before but were
presumably those referred to in Griffin (2003).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the owner of Exito Safaris for providing us with the photographs and the co-ordinates for this record. We would
like to thank Professor Aaron Bauer of Villanova University for providing the known localities for Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia and for
confirming the identification and range extension of the snake.
References
Branch WR (1994) Field guide to snakes and other reptiles of
Southern Africa, [2nd ed.]. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
Engelbrecht HM, Branch WR, Greenbaum E, Burger M, Conradie
W, Tolley KA (2020) African Herald snakes, Crotaphopeltis,
show population structure for a widespread generalist but
deep genetic divergence for forest specialists. Journal of
Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 58(4): 1220–
1233. https://doi.org/10.1111/JZS.12361.
Griffin M (2003) Annotated Ch ecklist and Provisional
Conservation Status of Namibian Reptiles, Namibia Scientific
Society, pp160.
Herrmann HW, Branch WR (2013) Fi fty years of herpetological
research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated
and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments
93: 94–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JARIDENV.2012.05.003
GBIF (2022) Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia (Laurenti, 1768).
https://www.gbif.org/species/9176658. Accessed on 18 April
2022.
Wagner P, Penner J, Rödel M-O, Luiselli L, Branch WR, Chirio L,
Howell K & Malonza PK (2021) Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia. The
IUCN Red List of Threatened Sp ecies 2021:
e.T13264994A13265005. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/
IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T13264994A13265005.en. Accessed on
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