''Amblyodipsas dimidiata'', or the Mpwapwa purple-glossed snake, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a ...

rear-fanged

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

in the

Atractaspididae The Atractaspididae (atractaspidids) are a family of venomous snakes found in Africa and the Middle East, commonly called mole vipers, stiletto snakes, or burrowing asps. Currently, 12 genera are recognized. Description This family includes man ...

family.

Geographic range

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to northern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Description

The snake is black dorsally; white ventrally, and is also colored white on the upper lip, and on three lower rows of dorsal scales on each side. The rostral is very large, with a portion visible from above longer than its distance from the frontal; the internasals are more than twice as broad as they are long. The supraoculars are very small. The snake has six upper labials, the third in contact with the nasal and the prefrontal, the third and fourth entering the eye, and the fifth largest and in contact with the parietal. The dorsal scales are smooth, without pits, arranged in 17 rows. Ventrals 192–215; anal divided; subcaudals 20–27, divided. Adults may attain a total length of , which includes a tail long. Boulenger, G.A. 1896. ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume III''. p. 247.

References

Atractaspididae Snakes of Africa Reptiles of Tanzania Endemic fauna of Tanzania Reptiles described in 1888 Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Alethinophidia-stub