''Aplopeltura'' is a genus of snakes of the family

Pareidae Pareidae is a small family of snakes found largely in southeast Asia, with an isolated subfamily endemic to southwestern India. It encompasses 42 species in four genera divided into two subfamilies: Pareinae and Xylophiinae. Both families are tho ...

. It contains a single species, ''Aplopeltura boa'', the blunthead slug snake or blunt-headed slug-eating snake. It is a small, non-venomous snake. The species can be found in southern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. ''A. boa'' eats mainly snails, especially

operculate The operculum (; ) is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure like a trapdoor that exists in many (but not all) groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails; the structure is found in some marine and ...

species. Their jaws are more mobile than those of most other vertebrates. With their mandibles, they cut the operculum off from their prey with a unique "sawing" motion. ''A. boa'' has been observed performing simple death feigning behavior. The snake rolls itself into a spiral with its belly up, staying still until the threat leaves. Unlike other death feigning snakes, ''A. boa'' does not emit a foul odor or open its mouth. Image:Aplopeltura boa, Blunt-headed tree snake.jpg, ''Aplopeltura boa'',

Khao Sok National Park Khao Sok National Park ( th, เขาสก, ) is in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Its area is 461,712 rai ~ , and it includes the Cheow Lan Lake contained by the Ratchaprapha Dam. The park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern T ...

References

Pareidae Monotypic snake genera Reptiles of Brunei Reptiles of Indonesia Reptiles of Malaysia Reptiles of the Philippines Reptiles of Thailand Reptiles of Borneo Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril {{colubrids-stub