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Dendrelaphis Wickrorum
''Dendrelaphis wickrorum'', commonly known as the Wickramasinghes bronzeback, is a species of arboreal snake endemic to Sri Lanka. Etymology The specific name ''wickrorum'' is in honor of prominent herpetologist L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and his wife Nethu Wickramasinghe for their remarkable contributions to the field of herpetology in Sri Lanka. It was formerly considered to be ''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis.'' Taxonomy The species is sympatric with other bronzeback species: '' D. sinharajensis'', '' D. schokari'' and '' D. caudolineolatus'' in the wet zone. It was formerly confused with ''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis,'' but the dry-zone populations of ''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis'' are the real ones, and the wet-zone populations are ''Dendrelaphis wickrorum''. Description The largest specimen in the type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arboreal Locomotion
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them and lead to a variety of anatomical, behavioral and ecological consequences as well as variations throughout different species.Cartmill, M. (1985). Climbing. In ''Functional Vertebrate Morphology'', eds. M. Hildebrand D. M. Bramble K. F. Liem and D. B. Wake, pp. 73–88. Cambridge: Belknap Press. Furthermore, many of these same principles may be applied to climbing without trees, such as on rock piles or mountains. Some animals are exclusively arboreal in habitat, such as the tree snail. Biomechanics Arboreal habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving in them, which have been solved in diverse ways. These challenges include moving on narrow branches, mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre. Sri Lanka has a population of around 22 million (2020) and is a multinational state, home to diverse cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese are the majority of the nation's population. The Tamils, who are a large minority group, have also played an influential role in the island's history. Other long established groups include the Moors, the Burghers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mendis Wickramasinghe
L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe is a Sri Lankan herpetologist, taxonomist, naturalist ,wildlife photographer. Inspired by a childhood passion on snakes and by the diversity of his motherland, he has spent over two decades experiencing the forests across Sri Lanka. Biography Wickramasinghe was born in Kalutara, 6 May 1976, and educated in Tissa Central College. He was employed as an Ecologist at the Sri Lanka Program of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for nearly seven years (2000-2007). Mendis formed the Herpetological Foundation of Sri Lanka (HFS) in year 2007, to further pursue in independent research on the herpetofauna of Sri Lanka, and also provide a platform for young herpetologists to initiate research. Professional experience With over 25 years of field research experience on the herpetofauna of Sri Lanka, his work has focused on taxonomic identification and biodiversity assessment of reptiles and amphibians in an effort to increase awareness o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendrelaphis Bifrenalis
''Dendrelaphis bifrenalis'', also called Boulenger's bronzeback, Boulenger's bronze-back, and Travancore bronze-brown snake, is a colubrid snake native to Eastern Ghats of Southern India and Sri Lanka. It was first described by George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ... in 1890. '' Dendrelaphis wickrorum'' from Sri Lanka was previously confused with this species. Habitat and ecology This oviparous, diurnal and arboreal species can be found in trees, shrubs and bushes in wet and intermediate zones of lowlands to mid hills. However, there are references of finding it from Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Trincomalee of northern dry zone of Sri Lanka. It is often encountered on low vegetation, however, and it may also descend to the ground in search of foo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendrelaphis Sinharajensis
''Dendrelaphis effrenis'' is a species of arboreal snake endemic to Sri Lanka. It was considered synonym of '' D. caudolineolatus'' until revalidation in 2020. At the same time, ''D. sinharajensis'' was brought into synonymy of ''D. effrenis''. Proposed vernacular names for ''D. sinharajensis'' include Sinharaja tree snake, ''Sinharaja haldanda'' ( Sinhala; සිංහරාජ හාල්දණ්ඩා), and ''Sinharaja komberi muken'' (Tamil). Description Prominent black and white cross bars are present throughout the body. Black bars are paired and make the margins for the white bars. Parietal strip is present. Dorsal color bright red on nape and becomes fade to tail. There are 13 midbody scale rows, 174–175 ventral scales, and 129–139 subcaudal scales. Loreal scale is absent. The largest specimen measures in snout–vent length. Distribution ''Dendrelaphis effrenis'' was described based on a single specimen from Colombo, perhaps from rainforest patches near the city ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendrelaphis Caudolineolatus
''Dendrelaphis caudolineolatus'', commonly known as Gunther's bronzeback tree snake, is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. It was described and named, as ''Dendrophis caudolineolata'', by Albert Günther of the British Museum in 1869. (''Dendrophis caudolineolata'', new species, p. 506 + Plate XL, figure 1). Geographic range The snake is found in Sri Lanka, where the type specimen, now in the Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ..., was collected by Richard Hawksworth Barnes. References Reptiles described in 1869 Taxa named by Albert Günther Reptiles of Sri Lanka caudolineolatus {{colubrid-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Type Series
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the defining features of that particular taxon. In older usage (pre-1900 in botany), a type was a taxon rather than a specimen. A taxon is a scientifically named grouping of organisms with other like organisms, a set that includes some organisms and excludes others, based on a detailed published description (for example a species description) and on the provision of type material, which is usually available to scientists for examination in a major museum research collection, or similar institution. Type specimen According to a precise set of rules laid down in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), the scientific name of every taxon is almost al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendrelaphis
''Dendrelaphis'' is a genus of colubrid snakes, distributed from Pakistan, India and southern China to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. There are over forty described species. Asian species are known commonly as bronzebacks, while the Australo-Papuan species are simply called treesnakes. All are non-venomous and entirely harmless to humans. Classification This list is based on the latest checklist of the snakes of the world and recent revisions and descriptions published in the scientific literature. The authors of a 2015 revision of the Australo-Papuan ''Dendrelaphis'' species recommended the synonymy of ''D. solomonis'' within ''D. calligaster'', the elevation of ''D. keiensis'' to species status, the resurrection of ''D. lineolatus'' from within ''D. calligaster'', and the resurrection of ''D. macrops'' and elevation of ''D. striolatus'' from within ''D. punctulatus''. They also confined ''D. punctulatus'' to Australi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snakes Of Asia
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, Dibamid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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