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Polemon gabonensis

species of reptile

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 13, 2024
Entity authorityQ3006665 ↗
Source-derived summary

Polemon gabonensis, or the Gaboon snake-eater, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Atractaspididae. It is endemic to Africa.

Geographic range

It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Togo.

Description

Dorsally dark brown or olive, with three darker stripes, or all blackish. Upper lip white. A pale brownish band across the occiput. Ventrals, subcaudals, and terminal caudal scute white.

Adults may attain a total length of 51 cm (20 inches), with a tail 23 mm (7⁄8 inch) long.

Dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, arranged in 15 rows. Ventrals 214-249; anal plate divided; subcaudals 16-24, also divided (in two rows).

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Polemon gabonensis” is species of reptile. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Polemon, gabonensis and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current 113-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Polemon, gabonensis and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of reptile” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 13, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q3006665. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. 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.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

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

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Polemon gabonensis”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Polemon gabonensis primary sources, Polemon gabonensis archive and Polemon 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

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Polemon gabonensis”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Polemon gabonensis” 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.