''Aplopeltura'' is a genus of snakes of the family
Pareidae
Pareidae is a small family of snakes found largely in southeast Asia, with an isolated subfamily endemic to southwestern India. It encompasses 42 species in four genera divided into two subfamilies: Pareinae and Xylophiinae. Both families are tho ...
. It contains a single species, ''Aplopeltura boa'', the blunthead slug snake or blunt-headed slug-eating snake.
[ It is a small, non-venomous snake. The species can be found in southern ]Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, Brunei
Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
and the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
.[
''A. boa'' eats mainly snails, especially operculate species. Their jaws are more mobile than those of most other vertebrates. With their mandibles, they cut the operculum off from their prey with a unique "sawing" motion. ]
''A. boa'' has been observed performing simple death feigning behavior. The snake rolls itself into a spiral with its belly up, staying still until the threat leaves. Unlike other death feigning snakes, ''A. boa'' does not emit a foul odor or open its mouth.
Image:Aplopeltura boa, Blunt-headed tree snake.jpg, ''Aplopeltura boa'', Khao Sok National Park
Khao Sok National Park (, ) is in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Its area is 461,712 rai ~ , and it includes the Cheow Lan Lake contained by the Ratchaprapha Dam. The park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern Thailand and is a ...
.
References
Pareidae
Monotypic snake genera
Reptiles of Brunei
Reptiles of Indonesia
Reptiles of Malaysia
Reptiles of the Philippines
Reptiles of Thailand
Reptiles of Borneo
Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril
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