\ FIELDIANA • ZOOLOGY 3 Published by CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Volume 39 September 22, 1958 No. 18 EGYPTIAN SNAKES OF THE GENUS PSAMMOPHIS Hymen Marx Assistant, Division of Reptiles and Amphibians Hitherto the number of forms of this genus in Egypt has been in question. Two forms variously considered as species or subspecies are known. The present study demonstrates that three distinct species exist in Egypt. Psammophis schokari Forskal has been considered a distinct spe-cies by Parker (1949) and a subspecies of Psammophis sibilans Lin-naeus by Loveridge (1940). Loveridge recorded both forms from the same locaHties in Egypt and suggested that a study of the pop-ulations from that area would be fruitful. The extensive collecting of the United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 at Cairo, Egypt, has made available to Chicago Natural History Museum large series of Psammophis from Egypt, including specimens of both sibilans and schokari from the same localities. This paper is an attempt to determine whether two distinct species or a single highly variable species exists in Egypt. In the process of this study it became evident that a population from the Siwa Oasis is a distinct species, which is described below. All specimens not having letters preceding the numbers are in the collection of Chicago Natural History Museum. I wish to thank Dr. Doris Cochran, United States National Museum (USNM), and Mr. Arthur Loveridge, Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), for the loan of material in their institutions. The photographs were taken by me. ANALYSIS OF CHARACTERS The large Egyptian sample of Psammophis is easily divisible into two groups on the basis of slenderness and coloration. Upon exami-nation of other characters |Table A), further differences between the I ^-, . ' ■ • '-^ Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 58-1382^. No. 852 I ^^({m-^J 191 NATURAL HISTORY SURVEV LlBRARf /;
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