A comparative study of the morphology of the chondrocranium of Dendroaspis angusticeps and D. polylepis polylepis

Abstract

The essential features of the chondrocrania of both D. angusticeps and D. polylepis polylepis are very similar and conform closely to the platytrabic ophidian type. Specialized features such as a marked reduction of the solum nasi, as well as of the orbitotemporal region of the chondrocranium are noticeable. The basal plate and the occipital and auditory regions do not differ in important respects from those described in other snakes. Taxonomic justification for the separation of these elapids into two distinct species is adequately confirmed by structural differences between their chondrocrania.