A NEW ADDER (BITIS) FROM THE CEDARBERG, AND THE STATUS OF BITIS INORNATA (A. Smith, 1849): PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

Abstract

The status of the ‘hornless’ populations of the many-horned adder from the Eastern and Southern Cape has long remained a pressing problem. Recent collections of fresh material has permitted a re-assessment of the status of these populations. Topotypic material of Bitis inornata and B. cormuta albanica has been collected; the first since the type descriptions. Bitis inormata is re-validated following the discovery of two distinct taxa of Bitis living in sympatry on the summit of the Cedarberg in the western Cape. The status of Vipera (Echidna) atropoides and an additional population of ‘hornless’ B. cornuta from De Hoop Nature Reserve in the southern Cape is also discussed.