On the Psammophis sibilans group (Serpentes, Lamprophiidae, Psammophiinae) north of 12°S, with the description of a new species from West Africa

According to Hughes (1999) Psammophis sibilans (Linnaeus, 1758) is the species “mostly widely and commonly reported from Africa and the most confused taxonomically of any African snake”. According to Broadley (1963) “the Psammophis sibilans group has been a herpetologist’s nightmare for two centuries”. The nomen sibilans was based on several specimens, one of them is still extant and preserved at Uppsala University museum (Linnaeus coll. n° 42). It has been figured by Anderson (1898: fig. 12) and Brandstätter (1996: fig. 25), and its identiAbstract. Based on molecular, morphological and field data, the status and zoogeography of the taxa of the Psammophis sibilans group north of 12°S are reviewed. Molecular data including sequences from 20 of the 22 described species known to occur north of 12°S suggest that P. sibilans distribution is restricted to northeastern Africa, from Egypt to Ethiopia. Populations from West Africa are described as a new species, P. afroccidentalis sp. nov., and those from Chad, Cameroon and Central African Republic are assigned to P. rukwae which is also distributed from Tanzania to Ethiopia. Molecular data indicate the occurrence within this complex of three additional cryptic species in the Horn of Africa. Populations previously assigned to P. phillipsi in Central Africa north, south and east of the Congo forest block are assigned to P. mossambicus and the status of P. occidentalis is discussed. P. phillipsi is restricted to West Africa, with P. irregularis as junior synonym.