Bamboo snake
| Bamboo snake | ||||||||||||
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Thai red bamboo snake |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Oreocryptophis porphyraceus | ||||||||||||
| ( Cantor , 1839) |
The bamboo viper ( Oreocryptophis porphyraceus), and Thai bamboo snake is a snake from the family of snakes (Colubridae), which are mainly in the higher forest areas of Southeast Asia is home, with the individual sub-species , both evergreen rainforests , and drier habitats can inhabit. It is the only representative of the genus Oreocryptophis and was formerly subordinate to the genus Elaphe .
description
Characteristic of bamboo snakes is a narrow, pointed head , as well as a red-orange color pattern, which is traversed by two black stripes along the entire length of the body. Since bamboo snakes live exclusively on land and have a preference for cool climates all year round , their preferred habitats are in higher areas. They hunt mainly crepuscular; but also between the late evening and morning hours. Bamboo snakes have developed into one of the most popular types of snakes for keeping in terrariums in recent years.
distribution
The natural range of the bamboo snake includes parts of northeast India (more precisely the states of West Bengal , Sikkim , Assam and Arunachal Pradesh ), Myanmar , Bhutan , Thailand , Laos , Cambodia , Vietnam , Nepal , Tibet , parts of southern China (more precisely the provinces of Sichuan , Yunnan , Hong Kong and Hainan , north of Henan and Gansu and south of the Wei He river ), Taiwan , parts of western Malaysia (more precisely the Cameron Highlands in the Sultanate of Pahang ) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra . It was first discovered in the Mishmi Mountains in the Indian state of Assam.
habitat
Bamboo snakes generally prefer a year-round cool, very humid climate . They are often found at altitudes of over 800 meters above sea level within evergreen, moist rainforests or monsoon forests (varies among the subspecies ). They spend most of their time protected from predators in dense foliage or under stones and dead wood.
Diet
The typical diet of the bamboo snake consists mainly of various rodents and other small-sized wild animals such as frogs . Color mice have proven to be the main food in keeping .
Systematics
The new genus name Oreocryptophis (Greek "oros" = mountain; "kryptos" = hidden; "ophis" = snake) is derived from the characteristic lifestyle of the bamboo snakes, which find their preferred habitat in inaccessible mountainous terrain. In 2002, after an unpublished DNA analysis of at least one species within the genus Oreocryptophis, the biologist Urs Utiger succeeded in detecting a different gene code to the species Oreocryptophis porphyraceus , but this has not yet been fully described.
Subspecies
| subspecies | geographical distribution |
|---|---|
| O. p. porphyraceus | Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, China, Thailand, Vietnam |
| O. p. coxi | Northwest Thailand |
| O. p. kawakamii | Taiwan |
| O. p. laticinctus | Indonesia, Malaysia, Sumatra |
| O. p. vaillanti | China, Vietnam |
| O. p. pulcher | China |
literature
- Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp.
- Cantor, TE 1839 Spicilegium serpentium indicorum [parts 1 and 2]. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 7: 31-34, 49-55.
- Das, I. 1999 Biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. In: Ota, H. (ed) Tropical Island herpetofauna .., Elsevier, pp. 43-77
- Gray, JE 1853 Descriptions of some undescribed species of reptiles collected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 12: 386-392
- Grossmann, Wolfgang and Klaus Dieter Schulz. 2000 Elaphe porphyracea laticincta Schulz & Helfenberger. Sauria 22 (2): 2
- Gumprecht, A. 2003 Notes on the Chinese climbing snakes of the genus Elaphe (sensu lato) Fitzinger 1833. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (6): 37–41
- Lenk, P .; Joger, U. & Wink, M. 2001 Phylogenetic relationships among European ratsnakes of the genus Elaphe Fitzinger based on mitochondrial DNA sequence comparisons. Amphibia-Reptilia 22 (3): 329-339
- Schulz, Klaus-Dieter 1996 A monograph of the colubrid snakes of the genus Elaphe Fitzinger. Koeltz Scientific Books, 439 pp.
- Schulz, Klaus-Dieter (Ed.) 2013 Old World Ratsnakes. A Collection of Papers. Bushmaster Publishing, 432 pp.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Oreocryptophis porphyraceus in The Reptile Database Accessed November 11, 2018
- ↑ Utiger, Urs, Notker Helfenberger, Beat Schätti, Catherine Schmidt, Markus Ruf and Vincent Ziswiler 2002 Molecular systematics and phylogeny of Old World and New World ratsnakes, Elaphe Auct., And related genera (Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae). Soot. J. Herpetol. 9 (2): 105-124.