''Pareas atayal'', also known as the Atayal slug-eating snake, is a small, harmless
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
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 ...
.
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Description
''Pareas atayal'' is a slender, yellow-brown snake which may reach about in length. Its dorsum is primarily yellow-brown or ochre with slightly lighter flanks and a yellow-white or crème belly and chin. Clear, darkly-colored vertical bars mark the sides of this snake, each being roughly two scales wide.ventral
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
surface possesses less than the flanks. Two very thin, but well-defined black stripes stem from the lower and upper edges of each postorbital scale.anterior
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
part of the seventh supralabial scale
In reptiles, the supralabial scales, also called upper-labials, are those scales that border the mouth opening along the upper jaw. They do not include the median scaleWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates ( ...
, but does not continue to the lower jaw or chin. The upper postorbital stripes meet at the base of the head, forming an M-shaped arch.
Behaviour
Like others of its genus, ''P. atayal'' is a nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatur ...
, invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
-eating snake with a preference for land snails and slugs.
Etymology
''Pareas atayal'' is named after the native Taiwan aboriginal
Taiwanese indigenous peoples, formerly called Taiwanese aborigines, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about 600,303 or 3% of the island's population. This total is increased to more than 80 ...
people, the Atayal
Atayal may refer to:
* Atayal people, of Taiwan
* Atayal language
The Atayal language is an Austronesian language spoken by the Atayal people of Taiwan. Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’) are two major dialects. Mayrinax and Pa’kuali’, two ...
, as they inhabit the same mountainous regions of northern Taiwan.
References
atayal
Atayal may refer to:
* Atayal people, of Taiwan
* Atayal language
The Atayal language is an Austronesian language spoken by the Atayal people of Taiwan. Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’) are two major dialects. Mayrinax and Pa’kuali’, two ...
Snakes of Asia
Reptiles of Taiwan
Endemic fauna of Taiwan
Reptiles described in 2015
Taxa named by Nikolay A. Poyarkov Jr.
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