NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
East African Egg Eater
Dasypeltis medici Bianconi, 1859
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.
East-African egg eating snake (Dasypeltis medici) in Prague Zoo
Jklamo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Dasypeltis medici, also known commonly as the East African egg-eater, the eastern forest egg-eater, and the rufous egg eater, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Africa.
Wikipedia contributors, Dasypeltis medici; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:32:24.962398+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dasypeltis medici Bianconi, 1859
- Name authority
- Bianconi, 1859
- Common name
- East African Egg Eater
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Colubridae
- Genus
- Dasypeltis
- 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
- familyColubridae
- subfamilyColubrinae
- genusDasypeltis
- speciesDasypeltis medici Bianconi, 1859
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dasypeltis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Central African Egg-eating SnakeDasypeltis fasciata Smith, 1849 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Southern Brown Egg EaterDasypeltis inornata Smith, 1849 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dasypeltis latericia Trape & Mané, 2006 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Egg EaterDasypeltis scabra (Linnaeus, 1758) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dasypeltis taylori Bates & Broadley, 2018 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dasypeltis congolensis Trape, Mediannikov, Chirio & Chirio, 2021 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ethiopian egg eaterDasypeltis abyssina (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| African Egg-eating SnakeDasypeltis atra Sternfeld, 1912 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Confusing Egg EaterDasypeltis confusa Trape & Mané, 2006 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gans’ Egg EaterDasypeltis gansi Trape & Mané, 2006 | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Palm Egg EaterDasypeltis palmarum (Leach, 1818) | ColubridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dasypeltis parascabra Trape, Mediannikov & Trape, 2012 | ColubridaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Dasypeltis scaber Uthmöller, 1934 Uthmöller, 1934 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis elongata Mocquard, 1888 Mocquard, 1888 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis medici medici (Bianconi, 1859) (Bianconi, 1859) | synonym |
| Dasypeltis scaber Loveridge, 1936 Loveridge, 1936 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis scaber Scortecci, 1939 Scortecci, 1939 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis palmarum Peters, 1878 Peters, 1878 | ambiguous synonym |
| Dasypeltis scaber medici Loveridge, 1939 Loveridge, 1939 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis scaber var. fasciolata Peters, 1868 Peters, 1868 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis scabra var. bianconii Boettger, 1893 Boettger, 1893 | synonym |
| Dasypeltis medici lamuensis Gans, 1957 Gans, 1957 | 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=Dasypeltis&species=medici 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.
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:6CDPH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.