Dasypeltis medici, known commonly as the East African egg-eater and the eastern forest egg-eater, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Africa.
The specific name, medici, is in honor of Italian physiologist Michele Medici.[3]
D. medici is found in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[2]
The preferred habitat of D. medici is lowland evergreen forest.[4]
D. medici may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 76 cm (30 in) for females, and 60 cm (24 in) for males.[4]
D. medici, like all species in the genus Dasypeltis, feeds exclusively on birds' eggs. It can swallow an egg three times the size of its head. The egg is slit open by vertebral hypapophyses which extend into the esophagus. The collapsed empty shell is regurgitated.[5]
D. medici is oviparous.[2] An adult female may lay a clutch of 6–28 elongate eggs, each egg measuring 24 mm × 8 mm (0.94 in × 0.31 in).[4]
D. medici, illustration from Bianconi's original description, 1859 Dasypeltis medici, known commonly as the East African egg-eater and the eastern forest egg-eater, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Africa.
