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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Degen’s Herald Snake

Crotaphopeltis degeni (Boulenger, 1906)

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

Degen's water snake (Crotaphopeltis degeni), also known commonly as Degen's herald snake and the yellow-flanked snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Wikipedia contributors, Degen's water snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:56:06.884737+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Crotaphopeltis degeni (Boulenger, 1906)
Name authority
(Boulenger, 1906)
Common name
Degen’s Herald Snake
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Colubridae
Genus
Crotaphopeltis
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. genusCrotaphopeltis
  15. speciesCrotaphopeltis degeni (Boulenger, 1906)

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Tana Herald SnakeCrotaphopeltis braestrupi Rasmussen, 1985ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Crotaphopeltis hippocrepis (Reinhardt, 1843)ColubridaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Red-lipped SnakeCrotaphopeltis hotamboeia (Laurenti, 1768)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
Leptodira degeni Boulenger, 1906 Boulenger, 1906synonym

Documented distribution

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

S Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania (relict population), E Central African Republic, Cameroon (RASMUSSEN 1997, 2000), Chad (Chirio & LeBreton 2007)

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=Crotaphopeltis&species=degeni 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:6BJ59. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.