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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Black-headed Centipede Eater

Aparallactus capensis Smith, 1849

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
Aparallactus capensis Smith, 1849
Name authority
Smith, 1849
Common name
Black-headed Centipede Eater
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Atractaspididae
Genus
Aparallactus
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. familyAtractaspididae
  13. subfamilyAparallactinae
  14. genusAparallactus
  15. speciesAparallactus capensis Smith, 1849

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Zaire Centipede-eater.Aparallactus moeruensis de Witte & Laurent, 1943AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Black Centipede EaterAparallactus guentheri Boulenger, 1895AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Jackson’s centipede-eaterAparallactus jacksonii (Günther, 1888)AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Western Forest Centipede-eaterAparallactus modestus (Günther, 1859)AtractaspididaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 44 records assigned to Atractaspididae.

Names & synonyms

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

Recorded nameSource status
Aparallactus punctatolineatus Boulenger, 1895 Boulenger, 1895synonym
Aparallactus bocagii Boulenger, 1895 Boulenger, 1895synonym
Aparallactus capensis luebberti Sternfeld, 1910 Sternfeld, 1910synonym
Aparallactus luebberti Sternfeld, 1910 Sternfeld, 1910synonym

Documented distribution

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

E Republic of South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), E Botswana, Zimbabwe, C Mozambique, E/S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Zambia, Lesotho

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=Aparallactus&species=capensis 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:5VKVX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.