''Boiga ceylonensis'' (Sri Lanka cat snake) 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 rear-fanged, mildly venomous,
nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
,
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, 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. Th ...
colubrid
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 ...
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
endemic to
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 ...
.
Description
This is a thin-bodied, elongate, slim, tree snake. Taxonomic features: Dorsal Scales in 19 rows, oblique ; scales along the vertebral row much enlarged, and at mid body nearly as broad as long. Ventrals scales 217–237; the anals are undivided, subcaudals 95–109. The colour is brown or greyish above, with a series of blackish transverse cross bands ; nape with a blackish blotch, or three blackish longitudinal streaks, or a transverse bar ; a more or less distinct brown crown marking on top of head and a thick streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth ; lower parts yellowish, dotted with brown, usually with a lateral series of small brown dots. They are about 4 feet long from tip to tip with the tail 10 inches.
Distribution range
It is an endemic species to
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 ...
. Previously believed to occur in the
Western Ghats of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, but was falsified by recent studies.
Interaction with humans
This snake frequently ventures into human dwellings in search of prey such as geckos. It has a somewhat aggressive disposition and boldly strikes out when disturbed or cornered. This snake is known as by the
Sinhala speaking community of Sri Lanka.
See also
* ''
Boiga barnesii
''Boiga barnesii'' is a species of cat snake endemic to Sri Lanka. It is known as Barnes' cat snake in English and -පදුරු මාපිලා in Sinhala. It is a member of the snake family Colubridae. It is distributed in the lowlands ...
''
Notes
References
* Günther, A. 1858 Catalogue of Colubrine snakes of the British Museum. London, I – XVI, 1 – 281
*
Wall, Frank 1921 Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo Mus. (H. R. Cottle, government printer), Colombo. xxii, 581 pages
* GANESH, S.R., N.S. ACHYUTHAN, S.R. CHANDRAMOULI & GERNOT VOGEL (2020). Taxonomic revision of the Boiga ceylonensis group (Serpentes: Colubridae): re-examination of type specimens, redefinition of nominate taxa and an updated key.4779 (3): 301–332.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q656041
ceylonensis
Reptiles of Sri Lanka
Reptiles described in 1858
Taxa named by Albert Günther