NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Stripe-bellied Sand Snake
Psammophis subtaeniatus Peters, 1882
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Psammophis subtaeniatus, the western yellow-bellied sand snake, is a snake found in northern Southern Africa; more specifically the north of KwaZulu-Natal and further north to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Gauteng, North West, Limpopo, and Eswatini. It is also found in eastern and northern Botswana, northern Namibia, Angola, and Zambia.
It is also known as the striped sand snake and in Afrikaans as the westelike streeppenssandslang.
The snake is oviparous and lays 4 to 10 eggs in summer. The young are about 20 cm long when they hatch. The snake's venom is not considered harmful and poses no danger to humans.
Wikipedia contributors, Psammophis subtaeniatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:26:18.823235+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Psammophis subtaeniatus Peters, 1882
- Name authority
- Peters, 1882
- Common name
- Stripe-bellied Sand Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Psammophiidae
- Genus
- Psammophis
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyPsammophiidae
- genusPsammophis
- speciesPsammophis subtaeniatus Peters, 1882
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Psammophis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Psammophis aegyptius Marx, 1958 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ansorge’s Sand SnakePsammophis ansorgii Boulenger, 1905 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elegant Sand RacerPsammophis elegans (Shaw, 1802) | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Psammophis indochinensis Smith, 1943 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pakistan Sand RacerPsammophis leithii Günther, 1869 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Steppe Ribbon RacerPsammophis lineolatus (Brandt, 1838) | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Long Sand RacerPsammophis longifrons Boulenger, 1890 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Beautiful Sand snakePsammophis pulcher Boulenger, 1895 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Egyptian Hissing Sand SnakePsammophis sibilans (Linnaeus, 1758) | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northern stripe-bellied sand snakePsammophis sudanensis Werner, 1919 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tanganyika Sand SnakePsammophis tanganicus Loveridge, 1940 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Zambian Whip SnakePsammophis zambiensis Hughes & Wade, 2002 | PsammophiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Psammophis bocagii Boulenger, 1895 Boulenger, 1895 | synonym |
| Psammophis moniliger var. bilineatus Peters, 1867 Peters, 1867 | synonym |
| Psammophis transvaaliensis Gough, 1908 Gough, 1908 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Psammophis&species=subtaeniatus 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:4NCYK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.