''Lycodon cavernicolus'', also known as Gua Wang Burma wolf snake, is a species 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 found in peninsular

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 ...

. It was first described in 2014.

Etymology

The species name ''cavernicolus'' is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

words ''caverna'', which means "cave" and ''cola'' which means "dweller", and means that ''L. cavernicolus'' lives in caves. However, strictly speaking the ending "-colus" is a correctable error, as in Latin -cola as a suffix is a masculine noun and is not declined in compound words.

Phylogeny

''L. cavernicolus'' is a member of the genus ''

Lycodon ''Lycodon'' is a genus of colubrid snakes, commonly known as wolf snakes. The Neo-Latin name ''Lycodon'' is derived from the Greek words λύκος (''lykos'') meaning wolf and οδόν (''odon'') meaning tooth, and refers to the fang-like ant ...

'', a genus of snakes commonly known as wolf snakes. The genus belongs to the snake family

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 largest snake family, with member species being found on every continent except Antarctica.

Description

''L. cavernicolus'' has a flat head that is distinct from its neck, with an elongated snout. The nostrils are in the middle of the nasal scale, and large. The eyes are also large, with a vertical, elliptical pupil. The body is somewhat compressed from side to side. A

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

had a total length of 50.8 centimeters. The body is light brown, with bands of a lighter share. 36 bands are on the back and 29 on the tail. The head is the color of the lighter bands. The belly of the snake is beige. Juveniles have bold white markings on a darker brown background. ''L. cavernicolus'' can be differentiated from closely related snakes such as '' Lycodon ruhstrati'' and '' Lycodon fasciatus'' by the presence of an elongated

loreal scale The lore (adj. loreal) is the region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Ornithology In ornithology, the lore is the region between the eye and bill on the side of a bird's head. This region is sometimes featherless ...

, and either 245 ventral scales in the male or 232 in the female. Juveniles of the species have white bands.

Habitat & ecology

The holotype for ''L. cavernicolus'' was found deep inside a limestone cave. The snake is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

, or egg-laying. It is thought to eat geckos of the genus ''

Cyrtodactylus ''Cyrtodactylus'' (Greek κυρτος ''kurtos'' "curved", from κυπτω ''kuptō'' "to stoop"; δακτυλος ''daktulos'' "finger, toe") is a diverse genus of Asian geckos, commonly known as bent-toed geckos, bow-fingered geckos, and forest ...

.''

Distribution

The holotype for the species, as well as another specimen, were collected in a cave in

Perlis State Park Perlis ( Kedah Malay (Perlis dialect): ''Peghelih'') is a state of Malaysia in the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. The state borders the Thai provinces of Satun and Song ...

Perlis Perlis (Kedah Malay language, Kedah Malay (Perlis dialect): ''Peghelih'') is a Negeri, state of Malaysia in the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. The state borders the Thai ...

, Malaysia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18012520 cavernicolus Reptiles described in 2014 Snakes of Southeast Asia Reptiles of Malaysia Endemic fauna of Malaysia