Calamaria schlegeli

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Calamaria schlegeli
Pink Headed Reed Snake.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Calamaria
Species:
C. schlegeli
Binomial name
Calamaria schlegeli
Calamaria schlegeli distribution.png

Calamaria schlegeli is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. [1] [2] The species is known commonly as the red-headed reed snake, [1] white-headed reed snake, [2] and pink-headed reed snake. [3] It is native to Southeast Asia, where it occurs in the Malay Peninsula (Malaysia, Singapore), Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia), and in several Indonesian islands, including Sumatra, Java, Bali. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The specific name, schlegeli, is in honor of German herpetologist Hermann Schlegel. [2] [4]

Identification

A dead snake from Singapore Red-headed Reed Snake 12 26 00 294000.jpeg
A dead snake from Singapore

The key identification characters for C. schlegeli 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. [5] [6]

This nonvenomous red-headed snake is sometimes confused with the venomous blue Malayan coral snake ( Calliophis bivirgatus ) and the red-headed krait ( Bungarus flaviceps ), in an example of Batesian mimicry where a non-venomous animal protects itself by appearing similar to a venomous one.

Biology

C. schlegeli lives in forest undergrowth. It sometimes emerges on paths and in yards and gardens. [1] It burrows for cover and feeds on small prey such as worms and insects. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Iskandar D, Grismer LL  [ fr ] (2012). Calamaria schlegeli. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 18 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Calamaria schlegeli at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database . Accessed 19 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 Calamaria schlegeli. Ecologyasia.
  4. 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. (Calamaria schlegeli, p. 235).
  5. Inger RF, Marx H (1965). "The systematics and evolution of the Oriental Colubrid snakes of the genus Calamaria". Fieldiana Zoology. 49: 1–304.
  6. De Rooij, Nelly (1917). The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Volume 2. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 173.

Further reading