Common brown water snake

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Common brown water snake
Lycodonomorphus rufulus1.jpg
Brown watersnake, Lycodonomorphus rufulus.
Common Brown Water Snake 6.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Lamprophiidae
Genus: Lycodonomorphus
Species:
L. rufulus
Binomial name
Lycodonomorphus rufulus
(Lichtenstein, 1823)
Common brown water snake

The common brown water snake (Lycodonomorphus rufulus) is a species of nonvenomous South African snake.

This gentle, harmless snake is by far the most common water snake in southern Africa. It can be found from Cape Town in the south, along the wet east coast of South Africa and inland as far as Gauteng, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Throughout its range, its natural habitat is water margins, where it shelters under leaves and logs. It emerges at night to hunt frogs and sometimes rodents. It lays up to 10 eggs at the end of summer.

Eating a Purcell's ghost frog Common Brown Water Snake, Harold Porter Betty's Bay, 7141, South Africa imported from iNaturalist photo 30694655.jpg
Eating a Purcell's ghost frog

References

  1. Alexander, G.J.; Tolley, K.A.; Maritz, B. (2021). "Lycodonomorphus rufulus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021 e.T110134030A147693853. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T110134030A147693853.en . Retrieved 27 January 2024.