Toxicodryas pulverulenta

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Toxicodryas pulverulenta
Toxicodryas pulverulenta.jpg
Adult colouration pattern
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Toxicodryas
Species:
T. pulverulenta
Binomial name
Toxicodryas pulverulenta
(Fischer, 1856)
Synonyms [2]

Toxicodryas pulverulenta, commonly known as Fischer's cat snake, Fischer's tree snake, and the powdered tree snake, is a species of rear-fanged venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Contents

Juvenile colouration pattern Toxicodryas pulverulenta juvenile.jpg
Juvenile colouration pattern

Etymology

The specific name, pulverulenta, means "dusted" or "powdery" in Latin. The common names, Fischer's cat snake and Fischer's tree snake, are in honour of German herpetologist Johann Gustav Fischer, who originally described this snake as a species new to science. [3]

Geographic range

T. pulverulenta is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. [2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of T. pulverulenta are forest and savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 1,050 m (3,440 ft), but it has also been found in palm plantations. [1]

Description

Smaller than other species in its genus, T. pulverulenta does not exceed one metre (40 inches) in snout-to-vent length (SVL). [2] Dorsally, it is buff to pale brown. Ventrally, it is yellow, powdered with brown. Juveniles have a series of brown blotches on the flanks, each blotch enclosing a white area. [4]

Diet

T. pulverulenta preys upon lizards and rodents. [1]

Behaviour

T. pulverulenta is nocturnal and arboreal. [1]

Reproduction

T. pulverulenta is oviparous. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rödel M-O, Penner J, Toudonou C, Segniagbeto G, Chirio L, Trape J-F, Wagner P, Branch WR, Safari I, Chenga J (2021). "Toxicodryas pulverulenta". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T13265755A13265764.en. Accessed on 13 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Species Toxicodryas pulverulenta at The Reptile Database
  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. (Boiga pulverulenta, p. 90).
  4. Boulenger GA (1896).

Further reading