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The taxonomic status of Algero-Tunisian Pleurodeles was reanalysed in the light of new molecular and morphological evidence. Mitochondrial DNA sequences (396 bp of the cytochrome b and 369 of the 12S rRNA) and the results of the morphometric analysis, indicate that Algero-Tunisian P. poireti consists of two genetically and morphologically distinct forms. One restricted to the Edough Peninsula, and another one covering all the rest of its distribution in Algeria and Tunisia. The name P. poireti (Gervais, 1835) is restricted to the population of the Edough Peninsula, while P. nebulous (Guichenot, 1850) correctly applies to all other populations in the distribution. P. poireti originated approximately 4.2 Myr ago, probably as a result of the Edough Peninsula being a Pliocene fossil island, allowing both forms of Algero-Tunisian Pleurodeles to diverge both genetically and morphologically.

A new species of viperine viperid snake is described, Bitis harenna sp. nov. The new species is a member of the subgenus Macrocerastes based on it having three scales separating the nasal and rostral shields, and on the combination of 'divisions' of dorsal scale rows on the upper flanks and 'fusions' of rows on the lower flanks. Bitis harenna sp. nov. is distinguished from other members of the subgenus by its unique colour pattern, posterior parietal flange on the lateral wall of the braincase, and possibly by differences in scalation and head proportions. Only a single museum specimen is known, a female collected from 'Dodola' in Ethiopia probably in the late 1960s and previously identified as a possibly unusually coloured and patterned B. parviocula. A live, presumably male, specimen very closely resembling the holotype of Bitis harenna sp. nov. was photographed on the Harenna escarpment of the Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia in 2013, providing secure occurrence data and evidence that the holotype is not a uniquely aberrant specimen. A revised key to the species of Bitis in Ethiopia is presented. Aspects of body scalation are compared among species of the subgenus Macrocerastes and between species of Macrocerastes and Bitis, and several systematic characters are highlighted and clarified.

A new species of the natricine snake genus Smithophis Giri et al. 2019 is described based on three specimens collected from Arunachal Pradesh, India. An additional three referred specimens are documented. Smithophis arunachalensis sp. nov. differs from all known congeners by a combination of 4–5 (rarely 6) small scales around the eye (excluding labial scales), presence of temporal scales, and a distinctive colour pattern of a blackish dorsum and bright yellow venter that form a sharply-defined zigzag border. The new species is known only from ca. 100 km2 in Lower Dibang Valley and Changlang Districts in eastern Arunachal Pradesh. A revised key to the identification of the species of Smithophis is presented.

On the African leopard whip snake, Psammophis leopardinus Bocage, 1887 (Serpentes, Colubridae), with the description of a new species from