Aparallactus jacksonii, or Jackson's centipede-eater, is a species of venomous rear-fanged snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

 in the family Atractaspididae

Atractaspididae

The Atractaspididae are a family of snakes found in Africa and the Middle East. Currently, 12 genera are recognized.-Description:This family includes many genera formerly classed in other families, on the basis of fang type. It includes fangless , rear-fanged , fixed-fanged , and viper-like species...

.

Etymology

The specific epithet, jacksonii, is honor of English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 explorer and ornithologist Frederick John Jackson, who presented the type specimen to the British Museum (Natural History).

Geographic range

It is found in Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, north Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, south Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

. Type locality = "Foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro".

Description

Jackson's centipede-eater is pale reddish brown dorsally, with a black vertebral line. Ventrally it is uniformly yellowish. The upper surface of the head and the nape of the neck are black. The nuchal blotch is edged with yellow, extending to the sides of the neck. There is a pair of yellow spots behind the parietal shields. The sides of the head are yellow, with the shields bordering the eye black.

The type specimen, a subadult female, measures 18 cm (7 inches) in total length, 3 cm (1⅛ inch) of which is tail.

Portion of the rostral visible from above half as long as its distance from the frontal. Internasals much shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal 1½ times as long as broad, much longer than its distance from the end of the snout, slightly shorter than the parietals. Nasal entire, in contact with the preocular. Two postoculars, in contact with the anterior temporal. Seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye. First lower labial in contact with its fellow behind the mental. Two pairs of chinshields, subequal in length.

Dorsal scales smooth, without pits, in 15 rows. Ventrals 142; anal entire; subcaudals 36, entire.