. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. 406 Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology, Vol. 154, No. 5. Figure 19. Liopholidophis grandidieri Mocquard, dorsal and lateral views of the head of the holotype (MNHN 02-103). somewhat variable, being more or less con- tinuous to the tail tip (MCZ 180297), es- sentially absent (BMNH , ; a few blackened suture lines) or continuous anteriorly but absent pos- teriorly (MNHN 02-103). Natural History. The RNP specimen was collected 13 April 1992 during the day near the summit of Mt. Maharira, a gra- ni
. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. 406 Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology, Vol. 154, No. 5. Figure 19. Liopholidophis grandidieri Mocquard, dorsal and lateral views of the head of the holotype (MNHN 02-103). somewhat variable, being more or less con- tinuous to the tail tip (MCZ 180297), es- sentially absent (BMNH , ; a few blackened suture lines) or continuous anteriorly but absent pos- teriorly (MNHN 02-103). Natural History. The RNP specimen was collected 13 April 1992 during the day near the summit of Mt. Maharira, a gra- nitic massif with expanses of bare rock, grassy areas, and low scrubby forest (prob- ably resulting from thin soil over bedrock). Two females, BMNH (SVL 436 mm) and (SVL 412 mm), have large oviductal eggs (five and four, re- spectively, as ascertained by palping) cov- ered by a thickened leathery shell. BMNH was obtained at Ambohimitom- bo by Forsyth Major, who collected there 12-24 January 1895 (Carleton and Schmidt, 1990:table 1). One egg from BMNH contained an embryo in Zehr (1962) stage approximately 23-24. The relatively advanced embryo sur- rounded by a leathery shell suggests ovi- parity in grandidieri according to criteria outlined by Blackburn (1993). Remarks. Liopholidophis grandidieri was described along with a heterogeneous assortment of amphibians and reptiles from Africa and South America (Mocquard, 1904), and neither a collector nor donor of the type was stated. The only other Mal- agasy species described in the same paper, Pseudoxyrhopus dubius {=tritaeniatus\ cf. Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 1994), was said to have been "sent to the [Paris] Museum, without indication of locality, by M. Rous- son, explorer" (Mocquard, 1904:306). Lio- pholidophis grandidieri was described during a period of accelerated French ex- pansion and exploration in Madagascar (Gallieni, 1908), and the type may have been obtained by any number o
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