Ahaetulla dispar

Gunther's vine snake

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Ahaetulla
Species:	A. dispar
Binomial name
*Ahaetulla dispar* (Günther, 1864)
Synonyms
Dryophis dispar Tragops dispar

Head

Ahaetulla dispar, the Gunther's vine snake, is a species of slender tree snake found in southern India in the Western Ghats. It is primarily restricted to the Shola forests of the Southern Western Ghats where it is found often on garsslands and the low shrub belts.

Description

Snout pointed and projecting, without dermal appendage, not quite twice as long as the eye. Internasals and prefrontals usually in contact with the labials; one or two small loreals ; frontal as long as its distance from the end of the snout or longer, oa long as the parietals; one preocular, in contact with the frontal, with one or two suboculara below; twopostoculars; temporals 2+2 or 2+3; upper labials 8, fifth entering the eye; 4 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are as long as the posterior or a little shorter. Scales in 15 rows, those of the sacral region more or less distinctly keeled. Ventrals 142-151; anal divided; sub-caudals 90-105. Bright green or bronzy olive above, the skin between the scales black; pale green or pale olive beneath, with a yellow line on each side.^[2] Total length 26 inches; tail 7.5.

It mainly feeds on smaller reptiles and tree frogs. It is considered to have a mild venom and is rear-fanged.

Notes

↑ Srinivasulu, C.; Srinivasulu, B.; Achyuthan, N.S. & Mohapatra, P. (2013). "Ahaetulla dispar". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
↑ Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.

References

Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp.
Günther, A. 1864 The Reptiles of British India. London (Taylor & Francis), xxvii + 452 pp.
Chandramouli, S. R., & Ganesh, S. R. (2011). Herpetofauna of southern Western Ghats, India–reinvestigated after decades. TAPROBANICA: The Journal of Asian Biodiversity, 2(2).
Ganesh, S. R., Bhupathy, S., David, P., Sathishkumar, N., & Srinivas, G. (2014). Snake fauna of High Wavy Mountains, Western Ghats, India: species richness, status, and distribution pattern. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 21(1), 53-64.

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