Psammophis leightoni
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Psammophis leightoni, also called commonly the Cape sand racer, Cape sand snake, fork-marked sand snake, and Namib sand snake, is a species of mildly venomous snake in the family Psammophiidae. The species is native to the western part of southern Africa.
The specific name, leightoni, is in honor of British herpetologist Gerald Rowley Leighton. P. leightoni is a slender snake. It has eight upper labials, the fourth and fifth of which contact the eye. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 17 rows at midbody. Males grow to be longer than females. Maximum recorded snout-to-vent lengths (SVL) are 96 cm (38 in) for a male, and 80 cm (31 in) for a female.
P. leightoni is found in fynbos, veld, and the Karoo, Kalahari and Namib desert biomes of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, and in a small section of coastal southern Angola. P. leightoni preys predominately upon small lizards and small rodents, but will also eat other snakes.
P. leightoni is oviparous. Clutch size is about eight eggs, and each hatchling has a total length (including tail) of 22–24 cm (8.7–9.4 in). The... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
No species of the same family or order lives in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Sand Snake sighting in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 14 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Sand Snake in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, April–August and October, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Sand Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Cape Sand Snake sightings, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 20%) and Namib-Naukluft National Park (Namibia, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Sand Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
