The snake fauna of Togo: systematics, distribution and biogeography, with remarks on selected taxonomic problems Author Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoude Département de Zoologie et Biologie animale, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, BP 1515, Lomé (Togo) h _ segniagbeto @ yahoo. fr Author Trape, Jean François Laboratoire de Paludologie et Zoologie médicale, UR 77, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Centre de Dakar, BP 1386, Dakar (Senegal) jean-françois. trape @ ird. fr trape@ird.fr Author David, Patrick Author Ohler, Annemarie Author Dubois, Alain UMR 7205 OSEB, Reptiles et Amphibiens, Département de Systématique et Évolution, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CP 30, 57 rue Cuvier, F- 75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) pdavid @ mnhn. fr ohler @ mnhn. fr adubois @ mnhn. fr pdavid@mnhn.fr Author Glitho, Isabelle Adolé Département de Zoologie et Biologie animale, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, BP 1515, Lomé (Togo) iglitho @ yahoo. fr iglitho@yahoo.fr text Zoosystema 2011 2011-09-30 33 3 325 360 http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/z2011n3a4 journal article 10.5252/z2011n3a4 1638-9387 4547017 Psammophylax togoensis ( Matschie, 1893 ) MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 27 specimens (Cameroon: MNHN 1972.0151 - 0153 , Wakwa [ Ngaoundere ]; MNHN 2002.0944 Ghata [Mungo Vill.]; Ivory Coast : MNHN 1977.0420 - 0429 , MNHN 1990.4777 and MNHN 1995.9508 , Lamto ; Guinea: MNHN 1904.421 , no specific locality; DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo]: MRAC 20445 [ type of Rhamphiophis garambensis de Witte, 1959 ], Gangala ; MRAC 30785-30790 , National Park of Garamba ; Togo: ZMB 13249, ZMB 11237 and ZMB 13828, no specific locality; no locality: MNHN 1990.4771 ) . FIG. 8. — Psammophis phillipsii (Hallowell, 1844) , Sokode. Photo by G. Segniagbeto. MORPHOLOGY. — TL from 232 to 686 mm ; rostral scale very prominent and well visible from above; 17 MSR, smooth; 170-181 Ven, smooth; 57-72 Sc, paired; anal divided; 7-8 supralabials; 9 infralabials; 2 preoculars; 2 postoculars; temporal scale formula 2 + 3. DISTRIBUTION. — Very little is known on the status and distribution of this taxon. It was described by Matschie (1893) from Togo without a precise locality as Rhamphiophis togoensis . Werner (1898) , Sternfeld (1908b) , Roman (1984) and Chippaux (2006) also mentioned its presence in Togo . However, the lack of preserved specimens with a precise locality makes it impossible to describe exactly the distribution of this subspecies and the evaluation of its taxonomic status. REMARK Broadley (1971b) and Chirio & Ineich (1991) maintained R. acutus togoensis as a subspecies of Rhamphiophis acutus (Günther, 1888) . We compared the characters of specimens referred to the subspecies R. acutus togoensis to those of the subspecies Rhamphiophis acutus acutus on the basis of the following specimens: Angola : BMNH 1945.1.2.81, Pungo Andongo; Congo : MNHN 1896.0069; Gabon (un- certain according to Pauwels & Vande Weghe 2008 ): MNHN 1933.0170; RDC : MRAC 18611-18615, Mont Katanga . Results are presented in Table 2 . In spite of the limited sample of the taxon acutus available to us, we can separate Psammophylax acutus (Günther, 1888) from Psammophylax togoensis ( Matschie, 1893 ) both on the basis of constant morphological characters, such as the presence of ventrolateral stripes, and of their geographical distribution. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test, implemented in SPSS 16.0 to compare the difference between the two species in the “BL/TaL ” variable, shows a significant difference between the two samples (Mann-Whitney U test: X2 = 31.00; P = 0.03; P <0.05). Based on these results, we follow Chirio & Lebreton (2007) in considering the taxon togoensis to be a valid species. Recently, Ramphiophis acutus was referred to the genus Psammophylax Fitzinger, 1843 by Kelly et al. (2008) .