Calamaria schlegeli
| Calamaria schlegeli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Short snake seen in Bukit Timah, Singapore - Often confused with the Malayan Coral Snake | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Calamaria |
| Species: | C. schlegeli |
| Binomial name | |
| C. schlegeli Dumeril & Bibron, 1854 | |
 | |
Calamaria schlegli or the Pink Headed Reed Snake is a relatively small sized burrowing or fossorial snake. It is called reed snake due to its cylindrical body. Nocturnal in habit, it mainly feeds on slugs and frogs [1]
The key identification characters are modified maxillary teeth and scale characteristics. The third and fourth upper lip scales touch the eye. The mental scale does not touch the anterior chin shields. The nasal scales are oriented laterally. There is considerable geographic variation. Preocular scales are present in snakes from Singapore and Malaya but absent in those from Java and sometimes present on those from Borneo and Sumatra.[2][3]
It has a characteristic pink head and glossy sheen on the body. Often confused with the Blue Malayan Coral Snake Calliophis bivirgatus.[4]
References
- ↑ http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/snakereedpink.htm
- ↑ Inger, RF; H. Marx (1965). "The systematics and evolution of the Oriental Colubrid snakes of the genus Calamaria". Fieldiana Zoology 49: 1–304.
- ↑ De Rooij, Nelly (1917). The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Volume 2. Leiden: E.J.Brill. p. 173.
- ↑ http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/pink-headed_reed-snake.htm