''Ahaetulla perroteti'', known
commonly as the bronze-headed vine snake,
[ Perrotet's vine snake,] or the Western Ghats bronzeback,[ 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 mildly venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
, rear-fanged snake in the family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Colubridae
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. C ...
. The species is 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 the Western Ghats in South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
.[
]
Etymology
The specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''perroteti'', is in honor of French naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
George Samuel Perrottet
George Samuel Perrottet (23 February 1790 – 13 January 1870, Puducherry (city), Pondicherry), also known as Georges Guerrard-Samuel Perrottet, was a botanist and horticulturalist from Praz, in the commune of Vully-le-Bas, today Mont-Vully, Swit ...
(1793–1867).[
]
Description
:''See snake scales
Snakes, like other reptiles, have skin covered in scales.Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India. p. 1 Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes, known as snakeskin as a whole. A scale protects ...
for terminology.''
''A. perroteti'' has the following characters. The snout is obtusely pointed and projecting, without dermal appendage, not quite twice as long as the eye. There is no loreal; the internasals and prefrontals are in contact with the labials. The frontal is longer than its distance from the end of the snout, as long as the parietals. There is one preocular, in contact with the frontal, and one postocular. The temporals are arranged 1+2 or 2+2. There are 8 (rarely 9) upper labials, the fourth and fifth entering the eye. The 4 lower labials are in contact with the anterior chin shields, which are as long as the posterior chin shields.[
The dorsal scales are in 15 rows at midbody, and those on the sacral region are keeled. The ventrals number 138-140. The anal is divided, and the subcaudals number 70-82.][
Males are bright green above, yellowish or pale green beneath, with a green lateral line. Females are drab brownish grey with a yellowish venter.][
The total length (including tail) is . The tail is .][
]
Distribution
''A. perroteti'' is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats, in south India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
. It occurs in high-elevation hills, above , of Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
states. This species is known from the Upper Nilgiris, including Mukurthi National Park
Mukurthi National Park is a national park in the western Nilgiris mountains of Tamil Nadu in South India. It was created to protect its keystone species, the Nilgiri tahr.
It is part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India's first International ...
, Silent Valley and Vellarimala or Camel's Hump
Camel's Hump (alternatively Camels Hump) is a mountain in the Green Mountains in the U.S. state of Vermont. The north slope of the mountain borders the Winooski River, which has carved through the Green Mountains over eons. At , it is tied wi ...
and Siruvani peak. Perhaps it has the smallest geographic range of all Indian '' Ahaetulla'' species.
Biology
''A. perroteti'' is a diurnal, terrestrial snake found actively moving about on open montane grassland above the tree line
The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
. It feeds mainly on lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
s and frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...
s. It is seen basking in full sunlight. It rarely if ever ascends trees.
Reproduction
''A. perroteti'' is viviparous
In animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, with the maternal circulation providing for the metabolic needs of the embryo's development, until the mother gives birth to a fully or partially developed juve ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Duméril AMC, Bibron G, Duméril AHA (1854). ''Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième'' olume 7 ''Deuxième partie, Comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux''. Paris: Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret. xii + 781–1536. (''Psammophis perroteti'', new species, pp. 899–900). (in French).
*Ganesh SR, Chandramouli SR (2011). "On the nomenclature and taxonomy of a south Indian colubrid snake ''Ahaetulla perroteti'' (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854)". ''Herpetological Bulletin'' (117): 19–24.
* Smith MA (1943). ''The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes.'' London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (''Dryophis perroteti'', p. 373).
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2827402
perroteti
Snakes of India
Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats
Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril
Taxa named by Auguste Duméril
Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron
Reptiles described in 1854