Distribution, variation and biology of Macroprotodon cucullatus (Reptilia, Colubridae, Boiginae)

Abstract

Morphological differences among North African populations of false smooth snake Macroprotodon cucullatus are correlated with geography and differences in environmental parameters; subspecies recognition is warranted. The population in Israel, Egypt and Libya is referred to M. c. cucullatus, the Algerian and Tunisian population to M. c. mauritanicus and the Morocco population to M. c. brevis. Iberian M. cucullatus are morphologically divergent from North African populations and are described as a different subspecies. Balearic specimens are phenetically most similar to M. c. mauritanicus. -from Authors