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THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 173 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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THE See also:

AFRICAN See also:CONTINENT .—Of crocodiles, C. vulgaris in the E., C. cataphractus and Osteoleemus tetraspis in the W. There are many Chelonians, especially small See also:land tortoises of Testudo, and with Cinyxis which is See also:peculiar to this continent; the See also:freshwater Clemmys only in the N.W. corner; several genera of the pleurodirous Pelomedusidae, Pelomedusa galeata, which is See also:equatorial and See also:southern, with an outlying occurrence in the See also:Sinai See also:peninsula, and Sternothaerus with several tropical and southern See also:species; of Trionychidae the tropical Cydoderma and Cyclanorbis peculiar to the See also:country, and the large Trionyx triunguis which ranges from the See also:Senegal and See also:Congo into the See also:Nile See also:system with its big lakes, but occurring also in See also:Syria. Of Lacertilia the geckos and skinks, and the typically old See also:world families of Lacertidae and Varanidae are well represented; also Amphisbaenidae; Gerrhosauridae and Zonuridae, peculiar to See also:Africa and See also:Madagascar; a few Eublepharinae and a few of the so-called Anelytropidae in See also:West Africa. But the most important feature of this Lacertilian See also:fauna is the almost universal See also:distribution of chameleons in numerous and some highly specialized forms, See also:Chameleon and Rhampholeon. We See also:note the entire See also:absence of Iguanidae and of Anguidae, the latter represented by Ophisaurus only in the See also:north-western corner. Of See also:snakes only one sub-See also:family is peculiar, the Rhachiodontinae with the See also:sole species Dasypeltis scabra, the See also:egg-swallowing snake. Many Typhlopidae and Glauconiidae, but no Ilysiidae; large pythons, Eryx in the N., and a See also:boa, Pelophilus fordi in the W. of Africa. Of poisonous snakes there is an abundance, notably the Viperinae have their centre in this continent; besides Echis, which is also See also:Indian, there are peculiar to the continent Bitis, the puff-See also:adder, Causus, Atractaspis, Cerastes, and Atheris which is an arboreal genus, all''of which see under See also:VIPER. The See also:pit vipers are entirely absent. Elapinae are numerous, e.g. hooded cobras like Naja haje and Sepedon the " ringhals. Many opisthoglyphous See also:tree snakes and a considerable number of innocuous colubrines, e.g. Lycodon, Psammophis and Coronella or closely allied genera all also in See also:India, but Coluber-like forms and Tropidonotus are very scantily represented, chiefly in the N.

On the whole the reptilian fauna of Africa is not See also:

rich, considering the huge See also:size of the continent, but this may be accounted for by the See also:great expanse of See also:desert in the N. See also:half and of veld in the S. Lastly, the enormous central forests are still scarcely explored.

End of Article: THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

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