Red-Black Striped Snake

Open encyclopedia reference

The red-black striped snake (Bothrophthalmus lineatus) is the monotypical member of the genus Bothrophthalmus. This snake is found in the Sub-Saharan African countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola and Guinea. It is a harmless snake, black with five red stripes down its back. It lives in forests and forest islands from 700 to 2300 m altitude, often near water. A terrestrial and nocturnal snake, when not active, it hides in holes, leaf litter, and in or under rotting logs. It may bite furiously if handled (although it is harmless). Females lay clutches of about five eggs; it eats small forest animals such as shrews and mice.

The two recognized subspecies are:

Bothrophthalmus lineatus brunneus (Günther, 1863)

Bothrophthalmus lineatus lineatus (Peters, 1863)

Wikipedia contributors, Red-black striped snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:34:48.130500+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Bothrophthalmus lineatus (Peters, 1863)

Name authority

(Peters, 1863)

Common name

Red-Black Striped Snake

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Lamprophiidae

Genus

Bothrophthalmus

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. familyLamprophiidae
13. genusBothrophthalmus
14. speciesBothrophthalmus lineatus (Peters, 1863)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 65 records assigned to Lamprophiidae.

Names & synonyms

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

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.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Bothrophthalmus&species=lineatus 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:5WQK6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.