MythscribeMundus
THE NATURAL & IMAGINED WORLDAn illustrated compendium
NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Black-headed smooth snake

Meizodon plumbiceps (Boettger, 1893)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Meizodon plumbiceps (Boettger, 1893)
Name authority
(Boettger, 1893)
Common name
Black-headed smooth snake
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Colubridae
Genus
Meizodon
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
  9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
  10. suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
  11. infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
  12. familyColubridae
  13. subfamilyColubrinae
  14. genusMeizodon
  15. speciesMeizodon plumbiceps (Boettger, 1893)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Meizodon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Tana Delta smooth snakeMeizodon krameri Schätti, 1985ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Western Crowned SnakeMeizodon coronatus (Schlegel, 1837)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Eastern crowned smooth snakeMeizodon regularis Fischer, 1856ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Semiornate Smooth SnakeMeizodon semiornatus (Peters, 1854)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 1,632 records assigned to Colubridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Coronella plumbiceps Boettger, 1893 Boettger, 1893synonym
Coronella somalica Scortecci, 1932 Scortecci, 1932synonym
Meizodon loveridgei Bogert, 1940 Bogert, 1940synonym
Coluber citernii Loveridge, 1955 Loveridge, 1955synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

E Ethiopia, S Somalia, NE Kenya, Arabian peninsula ?

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Meizodon&species=plumbiceps Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3Z3GF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.