Common names: Mueller's two-headed snake.

Micrelaps muelleri is a venomous

Venomous snake

"Poisonous snake" redirects here. For true poisonous snakes, see Rhabdophis.Venomous snakes are snakes which have venom glands and specialized teeth for the injection of venom...

 rear-fanged Atractaspidid

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...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 endemic to the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

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Taxonomy

No subspecies are currently recognized. Micrelaps muelleri is the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 for the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Micrelaps

Micrelaps

Micrelaps is a genus of venomous rear-fanged Atractaspidid snakes found in Africa and the Middle East. Currently, five species are recognized.-Description:...

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Etymology

The specific name, muelleri, is in honor of Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 herpetologist Fritz Müller

Fritz Müller (doctor)

Fritz Müller was a Swiss doctor, zoologist, and herpetologist.He was born in Basel and studied at the University of Basel from 1852 to 1854, and then at Würzburg and Prague, where he became a medical doctor in 1857...

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Description

Micrelaps muelleri is black, with whitish zigzag-edged rings, which may be narrower or wider than the spaces between them, mostly interrupted ventrally.

Adults may attain 40.5 cm (16 inches) in total length, with a tail 3 cm (1⅛ inch) long.

Dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 15 rows. Ventrals 251-275; anal plate divided; subcaudals 26-32, also divided.

Head very flattened. Rostral nearly twice as broad as deep, just visible from above. Internasals a little broader than long, shorter than the prefrontals. Frontal small, not broader than the supraocular, 1⅔ times as long as broad, hardly as long as its distance from the rostral, half as long as the parietals. Supraocular as long as broad. A small postocular, in contact with the first temporal. Temporals 1+1 or 1+2. Seven upper labials, third and fourth entering the eye. Three or four lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shield. Anterior chin shields as long as the posterior chin shields.

Conservation status

This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001). This is because it does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened. Widespread and abundant species are included in this category. Year assessed: 2005.