Xenocalamus mechowii, or the elongate quill-snouted snake, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the subfamily Aparallactinae of the family Atractaspididae. The species is endemic to Africa. There are two recognized subspecies.
Etymology The specific name or epithet, mechowii, is in honor of Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow, a Silesian-German explorer of Africa.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Xenocalamus mechowi, p. 174).
Geographic range Xenocalamus mechowii is found in Angola, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Habitat The preferred habitat of Xenocalamus mechowii is savanna on Kalahari sand, at elevations up to .
Description Dorsally, Xenocalamus mechowii is yellowish with brown spots, some spots arranged in alternating confluent pairs, others forming crossbands. The upper lip, sides of the body, and venter are unspotted.
A subadult in total length has a tail long.
The species exhibits sexual dimorphism. Adult males may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . Females are larger, and may attain SVL.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. . (Xenocalamus mechowii, p. 69).
The dorsal scales are smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 17 rows. The ventrals number 229–239. The anal plate is divided, and the subcaudals which number 31–36 are also divided.
The head scalation is the same as Xenocalamus bicolor, except there are no supraoculars and two postoculars.Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ), Amblycephalidæ, and Viperidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I–XXV. ("Xenocalamus mechovii [sic]", p. 248).
The snout is very depressed and very prominent.
Behavior Xenocalamus mechowii is terrestrial and fossorial.
Diet Xenocalamus mechowii preys on amphisbaenians, which it finds by burrowing.
Reproduction Xenocalamus mechowii is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of as many as four eggs.
Subspecies Two subspecies of Xenocalamus mechowii are recognized as being valid, including the nominate race.
Xenocalamus mechowii inornatus Xenocalamus mechowii mechowii
Intergrades of these two subspecies can be found in North-Western Province, Zambia.Broadley DG (1971). "A revision of the African snake genera Amblyodipsas and Xenocalamus ". Occasional papers of the National Museums of Rhodesia, Series B, Natural sciences 4 (33): 629–697.
References
Further reading 387 pp. 280 pp. (Xenocalamus mechowii, p. 88). Peters WCH (1881). "Zwei neue von Herrn Major von Mechow während seiner letzten Expedition nach West-Afrika entdeckte Schlangen und eine Übersicht der von ihn mitgebrachten herpetologischen Sammlung ". Sitzunsberichte der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1881 (9): 147–150. (Xenocalamus mechowii, new species, p. 147). (in German). de Witte GF, Laurent RF (1947). "Revision d'un groupe de Colubridae africains: genres Calamelaps, Miodon, Aparallactus, et formes affines ". Mémoires du Muséum Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique (sér. 2) 29: 1–134. (Xenocalamus mechowii inornatus, new subspecies, p. 51). (in French).
External links iNaturalist page