Dasypeltis medici

Dasypeltis medici
Dasypeltis medici in the Prague Zoo
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Dasypeltis
Species:	D. medici
Binomial name
Dasypeltis medici (Bianconi, 1859)
Synonyms[2]
Dipsas medici Bianconi, 1859 Dasypeltis medici — Gans, 1957

D. medici, illustration from Bianconi's original description, 1859

Dasypeltis medici, known commonly as the East African egg-eater and the eastern forest egg-eater, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, medici, is in honor of Italian physiologist Michele Medici.^[3]

Geographic range

D. medici is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.^[2]

Habitat

The preferred habitat of D. medici is lowland evergreen forest.^[4]

Description

D. medici may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 76 cm (30 in) for females, and 60 cm (24 in) for males.^[4]

Diet

D. medici, like all species in the genus Dasypeltis, feeds exclusively on birds' eggs. It can swallow an egg three times the size of its head. The egg is slit open by vertebral hypapophyses which extend into the esophagus. The collapsed empty shell is regurgitated.^[5]

Reproduction

D. medici is oviparous.^[2] An adult female may lay a clutch of 6–28 elongate eggs, each egg measuring 24 mm × 8 mm (0.94 in × 0.31 in).^[4]

References

1. Spawls, S.; Branch, W.R.; Wagner, P. (2021). "Dasypeltis medici". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T13265127A13265135. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T13265127A13265135.en. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
2. Species Dasypeltis medici at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Dasypeltis medici, p. 175).
4. Branch, Bill (2004). Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Dasypeltis medici, p. 96 + Plate15).
5. Branch (2004). (Dasypeltis, p. 95).

Further reading

• Bianconi, "J. Jos." (1859). Specimina Zoologica Mosambicana, Fasciculus XII. pp. 497–506 + Plates 25–27. (Dipsas medici, new species, pp. 501–502 + Plate 26). (in Latin).