Congo Two-headed Snake

About the Congo Two-headed Snake

Chilorhinophis gerardi, commonly known as the Congo two-headed snake, Gerard's black and yellow burrowing snake, and Gerard's two-headed snake, is a species of mildly venomous snake in the family Atractaspididae. The species is endemic to Africa.

The specific name, gerardi, is in honor of Belgian physician and naturalist Pol Gérard (1886-1961) who collected the type specimen. C. gerardi is found in southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire), Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The preferred natural habitat of C. gerardi is savanna, at altitudes up to 920 m (3,020 ft). C. gerardi is oviparous. Two subspecies of C. gerardi are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Chilorhinophis gerardi gerardi (Boulenger, 1913)

Chilorhinophis gerardi tanganyikae Loveridge, 1951 Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Chilorhinophis. Barbour T, Amaral A (1927). "Studies on African Ophidia". Bulletin of the Antivenin Institute of America 1 (1... Wikipedia →