Psammophis
/(p)səˈməʊfɪs/ /ˈ(p)saməfɪs/Zoology
noun
A genus comprising the Old World sand snakes, which are slender, fast-moving, back-fanged colubrid snakes of arid grassland, scrubland, and semidesert in Africa and Asia.
Origin
Mid 19th century; earliest use found in Thomasina Ross (fl. 1852). From scientific Latin Psammophis from Hellenistic Greek ψαμμο- + ancient Greek ὄϕις snake, serpent.