Anderson's stream snake

Anderson's stream snake
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 2.3) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Opisthotropis
Species:	O. andersonii
Binomial name
Opisthotropis andersonii (Boulenger, 1888)
Synonyms [2]
Calamohydrus andersonii Boulenger, 1888 Opisthotropis andersonii — Boulenger, 1891

Anderson's stream snake (Opisthotropis andersonii), also known commonly as Anderson's mountain keelback, ^{[2] [3]} is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Asia

Etymology

The specific name, andersonii, is in honor of Scottish herpetologist John Anderson. ^[3]

Geographic range

O. andersonii is found in Hong Kong and Vietnam. ^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of O. andersonii are forest and freshwater wetlands, at altitudes of 300–900 m (980–2,950 ft). ^[1]

Description

Dorsally, O. andersonii is blackish olive. Ventrally it is whitish, except for the chin and lower labials which are brown. The snout is short, broad, and depressed. There is a single prefrontal, and only one pair of chin shields. ^[4]

The dorsal scales, which are arranged in 17 rows throughout the entire length of the body, are smooth on the neck, feebly keeled at midbody, and strongly keeled on the tail. Adults of O. andersonii have a total length (including tail) of 38–46 cm (15–18 in). The tail is 15–20 % of the total length. ^[2]

Reproduction

O. andersonii is oviparous. ^[2]

References

1. Lau, M.; Nguyen, T.Q. (2012). "Opisthotropis andersonii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2012 e.T192007A2027198. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T192007A2027198.en . Retrieved 19 January 2018.
2. Species Opisthotropis andersonii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Opisthotropis andersonii, p. 8; O. maxwelli, p. 171).
4. Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Colubridæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Opisthotropis andersonii, new combination, p. 284 + Plate XVIII, figures 3, 3a, 3b, 3c).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1888). "Description of two new Snakes from Hongkong, and Note on the Dentition of Hydrophis viperina". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Sixth Series2 : 43–45. (Calamohydrus andersonii, new species, p. 44).
• Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. ("Opisthotropis andersoni [sic]", p. 333).
• Wang Y-Y, Guo Q, Liu Z-Y, Lyu Z-T, Wang J, Luo L, Sun Y-J, Zhang Y-W (2017). "Revisions of two poorly known species of Opisthotropis Günther, 1872 (Squamata: Colubridae: Natricinae) with description of a new species from China". Zootaxa4247 (4): 391–412. (Opisthotropis andersonii, pp. 400–402, Figures 4A–4E + Figures 6c–6d on p. 405).