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Atractaspis congica

species of reptile

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 31, 2022
Entity authorityQ2701241 ↗
Source-derived summary

Atractaspis congica, commonly known as the Congo burrowing asp, is a species of venomous snake in the family Atractaspididae. It is found in Africa.

Description

Uniformly dark brown or black both dorsally and ventrally. Snout very short and rounded. Portion of rostral visible from above about half as long as its distance from the frontal. Smooth dorsal scales in 19 or 23 rows. Ventrals 200–230; anal divided; subcaudals 19–23, a few of the anterior entire, the remainder in two rows. Adults may attain a total length of 45 cm (17+3⁄4 in), with a tail 3.5 cm (1+3⁄8 in) long.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Atractaspis congica” as species of reptile. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current 104-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Atractaspis, congica and species can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of reptile. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 31, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q2701241. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Classification context
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Atractaspis congica”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Atractaspis congica primary sources, Atractaspis congica archive and Atractaspis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Atractaspis congica” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.