Bronze-headed Vine Snake (Ahaetulla perroteti) by Sandeep Das

''Ahaetulla perroteti'', known commonly as the bronze-headed vine snake, Perrotet's vine snake, or the Western Ghats bronzeback, is a

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 s ...

of mildly

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

, rear-fanged snake in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from la, coluber, 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on ever ...

. The species is

endemic 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 elsew ...

to the Western Ghats in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''perroteti'', is in honor of French naturalist

George Samuel Perrottet George Samuel Perrottet (23 February 1790 – 13 January 1870, Pondicherry), also known as Georges Guerrard-Samuel Perrottet, Guerrard Samuel Perrottet, Gustave Samuel Perrotet ic and Samuel Perrottet, was a botanist and horticulturalist from Pr ...

(1793–1867).

Description

:''See

snake scales 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 ...

for terminology.'' ''A. perroteti'' has the following characters. The snout is obtusely pointed and projecting, without dermal appendage, not quite twice as long as the eye. There is no loreal; the internasals and prefrontals are in contact with the labials. The frontal is longer than its distance from the end of the snout, as long as the parietals. There is one preocular, in contact with the frontal, and one postocular. The temporals are arranged 1+2 or 2+2. There are 8 (rarely 9) upper labials, the fourth and fifth entering the eye. The 4 lower labials are in contact with the anterior chin shields, which are as long as the posterior chin shields. The dorsal scales are in 15 rows at midbody, and those on the sacral region are keeled. The ventrals number 138-140. The anal is divided, and the subcaudals number 70-82. Males are bright green above, yellowish or pale green beneath, with a green lateral line. Females are drab brownish grey with a yellowish venter. The total length (including tail) is . The tail is .

Distribution

''A. perroteti'' is endemic to the

Nilgiri Hills The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

of the Western Ghats, in

south India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. It occurs in high-elevation hills, above , of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

states. This species is known from the Upper

Nilgiris The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...

, including

Mukurthi National Park Mukurthi National Park (MNP) is a protected area located in the western corner of the Nilgiris Plateau west of Ootacamund hill station in the northwest corner of Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. The park was ...

, Silent Valley and

Vellarimala Vellarimala Hills is a mountain range in Kerala, India, spread across Thiruvambady Panchayat in Kozhikode district and Meppadi Panchayat in Wayanad district. Description Vellarimala forms a part of a high hill range of what is otherwise known a ...

Camel's Hump Camel's Hump (alternatively Camels Hump) is a mountain in the Green Mountains in the U.S. state of Vermont. The north slope of the mountain borders the Winooski River, which has carved through the Green Mountains over eons. At , it is tied (with ...

and

Siruvani The Siruvani River is a river near Coimbatore, India. It is tributary of Bhavani river, which in turn is a tributary of Kaveri. Part of the Siruvani River is near Mannarkkad in the Indian District of Palakkad, Kerala. The river leads into two ...

peak. Perhaps it has the smallest geographic range of all Indian ''

Ahaetulla ''Ahaetulla,'' commonly referred to as Asian vine snakes or Asian whip snakes, is a genus of colubrid snakes distributed throughout tropical Asia. They are considered by some scientists to be mildly venomous and are what is commonly termed as ' ...

'' species.

Biology

''A. perroteti'' is a diurnal, terrestrial snake found actively moving about on open

montane grassland Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high elevation grasslands and shrublands around the world. The term "montane" in the name of the biome refers to "high elevation", rather than th ...

above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

. It feeds mainly on

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s and

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s. It is seen basking in full sunlight. It rarely if ever ascends trees.

Reproduction

''A. perroteti'' is

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...

Etymology

Description

Distribution

Biology

Reproduction

References

Further reading