Ahaetulla nasuta
Common vine snake | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Ahaetulla |
Species: | A. nasuta
|
Binomial name | |
Ahaetulla nasuta (
Lacépède , 1789) | |
Synonyms | |
Dryophis nasuta |
Ahaetulla nasuta, also known as Sri Lankan green vine snake and long-nosed whip snake, is a venomous, slender green tree snake endemic to Sri Lanka.
Distribution
Due to longstanding confusion over the taxonomy of A. nasuta, the species was once thought to have a large range from Sri Lanka to peninsular India, including the Western Ghats, along with a disjunct population in Southeast Asia. However, a 2020 phylogenetic study found A. nasuta to actually comprise a species complex, with the "true" A. nasuta (from which the species was originally described) being restricted to the wet zone of Sri Lanka (including the Sri Lanka lowland and montane rainforests). Four populations from the Western Ghats of India that were formerly grouped with A. nasuta were split into the species A. borealis, A. farnsworthi, A. isabellina, and A. malabarica. The large-bodied form from lowland peninsular India (and possibly the dry zone of the northern portion of Sri Lanka), which was also formerly grouped with A. nasuta, was found to actually be A. oxyrhyncha, and is actually more closely allied with A. pulverulenta and A. sahyadrensis than A. nasuta. Finally, the disjunct population in Southeast Asia was assigned to an as-of-yet undescribed species, tentatively referred to as Ahaetulla cf. fusca, and is a sister species to Ahaetulla laudankia.[1]
Description
Common vine snakes are
Taxonomic description
The species name Ahaetulla in Sinhala means 'eye plucker'. It earned this name, and similar ones in Tamil and Indian vernaculars, due to the mistaken belief that it strikes at the eyes.[4]
The following description with diagnostic characters is from Boulenger (1890):[5]
Snout pointed, terminating in a dermal appendage, which is shorter than the eye and formed entirely by the rostral; the length of the snout, without the appendage, about twice the diameter of the eye or rather more. No loreal; internasals and prefrontals in contact with the labials; frontal as long as its distance from the rostral or a little longer, as long as the parietals or a little longer; two preoculars and a small subocular (or one preocular and two suboculars), upper preocular in contact with the frontal; two postoculars; temporals 1+2 or 2+2; upper labials 8, fifth entering the eye; 4 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior. Scales in 15 rows. Ventrals 172–188; anal divided; subcaudals 140–166. Bright green or pale brownish, the interstitial skin between the scales black and white on the anterior part of the body, which appears striped when distended; a yellow line along each side of the lower surface. Total length 5 feet: tail 2.
Formerly treated as a subspecies Ahaetulla nasuta anomala is now regarded as a distinct species, Ahaetulla anomala.
Habitat
Found in low bushes, shrubs and trees in lowland forest terrain at elevations up to about 1000 metres, particularly near streams and often found near human settlements.[6]
Venom and its effects
The ingredients of the venom are unknown. The venom is moderately potent and can cause swelling, pain, bruising, numbness and other local symptoms, which will subside within three days. Bites close to the head, eyes and other vital areas could be severe. [7][8]
Vernacular names
The
- Sinhala: ඇහැටුල්ලා (Pronounced: Aheatulla)
- Tamil: பச்சை பாம்பு
- Kannada: ಹಸಿರು ಹಾವು
- Marathi: हरणटोळ (Pronounced: harantol)
- West Bengal: লাউডগা ( Pronounced:Laudoga)
Notes
- S2CID 228823754.
- S2CID 23349083.
- ^ Wall, Frank 1905. A popular treatise on the common Indian snakes. Part 1. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 16:533-554.
- ^ Snakes of Sri Lanka Archived May 19, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp.
- ^ "WCH Clinical Toxinology Resources".
- ^ Snakes of Sri Lanka Archived May 19, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ “Ahaetulla nasuta” at WCH Clinical Toxinology Resources. Accessed on 9.1.2014 at http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.snakes.display&id=SN0004
References
- Lacepède, B. G. E. 1789 Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares et de Serpens. Vol.2. lmprimerie du Roi, Hôtel de Thou, Paris, 671 pp.
- Wall, F. 1908 Remarks on some recently acquired snakes. J. Bombay N. H. S. xviii: 778-784
- Wall 1908 A new color variety of the common green whip-snake (Dryophis mycterizans). J. Bombay N. H. S. xviii: 919
- Wall, F. 1910 Remarks on the varieties and distribution of the common Green Whip Snake (Dryophis mycterizans). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 20: 229
- Wall 1910 Varieties of the common Green Whip Snake (Dryophis mycterizans). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 20: 524