''Pareas niger'', also known as the black snail-eating snake and the Mengzi snail-eating snake, is a non-venomous species of snake

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 ...

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 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Description

''Pareas niger'' has a black tail and a largely black dorsum. Its loreal scales do not touch the eyes, and 7 rows of scales are keeled at the mid-body. The solid black top of its head extends to the loreal and lower

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 ...

temporal scales In reptiles, the temporal scales are located on the side of the head between the parietal scales and the supralabial scales, and behind the postocular scales.U.S. Navy. 1991. Poisonous Snakes of the World. US Govt. New York: Dover Publications Inc ...

where it breaks down into dots, continuing to break down into scattered speckling at the lower

labial scales The labial scales are the scales of snakes and other scaled reptiles that border the mouth opening. These do not include the median scales on the upper and lower jawsWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates (7 ...

. The black of its neck and back is interrupted by irregular light areas that reach upward from the similarly light

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 ...

scales in broken bands that grow stronger toward the snake's posterior. The belly is light except for irregular, sparse mottling.

Behaviour

Like other snakes in its genus, ''P. niger'' 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 ...

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 ...

, mostly

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

snail and slug-eating snake.

Distribution

Best recorded in

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

broadleaf forests with

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

climates near Mengzi City, its ideal elevation is roughly 1,900 metres above sea level, though it is likely to occur in the

plateaus In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Oft ...

surrounding Mengzi as well.

Etymology

The species name ''niger'' comes from the Latin word for black.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q112181270

niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

Snakes of China Reptiles described in 1928 Endemic fauna of Yunnan