Oligodon annulifer
Oligodon annulifer | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Colubridae |
Genus: | Oligodon |
Species: | O. annulifer
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Binomial name | |
Oligodon annulifer | |
Synonyms | |
Simotes annulifer Boulenger, 1893 |
Oligodon annulifer, also known as the ringed kukri snake,
Taxonomy
O. annulifer has a poorly known classification. A number of other species were originally listed as subspecies of it.[1] A 1999 paper suggested that O. annulifer, which at that point was only known from four juvenile specimens, was actually only a juvenile of a different Oligodon species. However, a 2010 paper confirmed the existence of O. annulifer as a distinct species, based on the recent capture of an adult specimen.[1] The species name annulifer derives from the Latin word anus which means "ring," and the word fero, which means "carry."[2] Oligodon annulifer is a member of the genus Oligodon, a genus common throughout central and tropical Asia.[3] The genus belongs to the snake family Colubridae, the largest snake family, with member species being found on every continent except Antarctica.[4]
Description
The species is brown on the back, with black rings that contained oval yellowish-brown spots. A specimen described in 1893 had 26 such rings. The sides of the snake are black, with yellowish lines, and the head is also yellowish brown. It has a dark bar across the forehead, and a dark inverted Y shape above the nape of the neck. The underside of the snake is white, with small black dots. The 1893 specimen, which was a young snake, was 16 centimeters long.[5]
Habitat and ecology
Oligodon annulifer is oviparous, or egg-laying.[2] The species is known to eat the eggs of other reptiles, and it has teeth which are adapted for this purpose; they are sharply edged, to slit eggs easily.[1] It primarily lives in lowland rainforest, and it is a terrestrial, or ground-dwelling, species.[1]
Distribution
O. annulifer is found on the island of
Oligodon annulifer has been described from five scattered locations in
References
- ^ .
- ^ The Reptile Database. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- .
- ISBN 0-12-178560-2.
- ^ Boulenger, G.A. (1893). "Description of new reptiles and batrachians obtained in Borneo by Mr. C. Hose and Mr. A. Everett". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1893: 522–528.