Boiga trigonata
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| Indian Gamma Snake | ||||||||||||||||
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| Boiga trigonata (Schneider, 1802) |
The Indian Gamma Snake or Common Cat Snake (Boiga trigonata) is a species of snake found in South Asia.
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[edit] Description
- See snake scales for terms used
Anterior palatine and mandibular teeth scarcely larger than the posterior. Eye as long as its distance from the nostril; rostral broader than deep; internasals shorter than, the prefrontals; frontal longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals; loreals as long as deep or deeper than long; one preocular, not extending to the upper surface of the head; two postoculars; temporals 2+3; upper labials 8, third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are about as long as the posterior. Body moderately compressed; scales in 21 (rarely 19) rows, disposed obliquely, vertebrals very feebly enlarged. Ventrals 229-269; anal entire; subcaudals 79-92; Yellowish olive or pale grey above, with a white black-edged zigzag band along the back; head with two brown bands edged with black, diverging posteriorly; belly white, with or without a series of small brown spots along each side. Total length 3 feet: tail 7 inches.[1]
Type locality: Perso-Baluchistan frontier
[edit] Distribution
It is distributed throughout Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan (Leviton 1959: 461), S Turkmenistan, S Uzbekistan, SE Tajikistan, and Iran. The race melanocephala is found in Pakistan; this form is variously considered as a subspecies, color variant, or full species.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.
[edit] References
- Annandale, N. 1904 Additions to the Collection of Oriental Snakes in the Indian Museum J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 73: 207-211
- Bechstein, J. M. 1802 Herrn de Lacépède's Naturgeschichte der Amphibien oder der eyerlegenden vierfüssigen Thiere und der Schlangen. Eine Fortsetzung von Buffon's Naturgeschichte aus dem Französischen übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen und Zusätzen versehen. Weimar: Industrie Comptoir
- Gans C. and Latifi, M. 1973 Another case of presumptive mimicry in snakes. Copeia 1973: 801-802.
[edit] External links
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