Sibynophis Collaris on:
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''Sibynophis collaris'', commonly known as the common many-toothed snake, Betty's many toothed snake or the collared black-headed snake, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of colubrid
Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. Colu ...
snake
Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
.
Description
Rostral scale
The rostral scale, or rostral, in snakes and other scaled reptiles is the median plate on the tip of the snout that borders the mouth opening. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: ...
twice as broad as deep, just visible from above; suture between the internasals shorter than that between the prefrontals; frontal longer than its distance from the end of the snout, as long as the parietals or shorter; loreal as long as or a little longer than deep; one preocular; two postoculars, only the upper in contact with the parietal; temporals 1 (or 2) + 2; 9 or 10 upper labials, fourth, fifth, and sixth entering the eye; 4 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shields, which are as long as the posterior chin shields. Dorsal scales smooth, without apical pits, in 17 rows. Ventrals 159–190; anal divided; subcaudals divided, 102–131.
Brown above, vertebral region greyish, usually with a series of small round black spots; head with small black spots or vermiculations above, and two black crossbands, one across the posterior part of the frontal and supraoculars, the other across the occiput; a large black nuchal spot or crossband, bordered with yellow posteriorly; a black line from the nostril to the nuchal spot, passing through the eye, bordering the white black-dotted upper lip. Lower parts yellowish, each ventral with an outer black spot or streak, which may be confluent on the posterior part of the body; anterior ventrals with a pair of median dots in addition.
Total length 29 inches (737 mm); tail 9.5 inches (241 mm). Boulenger, G.A. 1890. ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia.'' Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, Printers). London. 541 pp. (''Polyodontophis collaris'', pp. 301–303.)
Distribution
Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, Sub-Himalayan India (Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
, Simla
Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...
), Mizoram
Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...
, Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
, 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 ...
, Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
, West Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby isla ...
, China (southeastern Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
and Yunnan
Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
), and Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. Record from Jeju, the southernmost major island of South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
, refers to '' Sibynophis chinensis''.
(Type locality: Khasi Hills
The Khasi Hills () are a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in the Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connect with the Purvanchal Range and the larger Patkai Range further east. The ...
, India)
Notes
Further reading
* Gray, J.E. 1853. Descriptions of some undescribed species of Reptiles collected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 12: 386–392. (''Psammophis collaris'', p. 390.)External links
* http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/mountain-many-tooth-snake.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q2708986 Sibynophis Snakes of Asia Reptiles of Bhutan Reptiles of Cambodia Snakes of China Reptiles of India Reptiles of Laos Reptiles of Malaysia Reptiles of Myanmar Reptiles of Nepal Reptiles of Taiwan Reptiles of Thailand Snakes of Vietnam Taxa named by John Edward Gray Reptiles described in 1853