''Rabdion forsteni'', also known
commonly as Forsten's pointed 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 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 native to a part of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
.
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 ...
, ''forsteni'', is in honor of Dutch
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 ...
Eltio Alegondas Forsten
Eltio Alegondas Forsten (12 July 1811, Middelburg – 1843, Ambon Island) was a Dutch naturalist.
He studied medicine at Leiden, obtaining his degree in 1836 with a thesis on ''Cedrela febrifuga'', titled "''Dissertatio botanico-pharmaceutico- ...
.
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Rabdion forsteni'', p. 92).]
Geographic range
''R. forsteni'' 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 island of
Sulawesi
Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
(formerly called Celebes) in Indonesia.
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
of ''R. forsteni'' is
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
, at altitudes up to .
[
]
Reproduction
''R. forsteni'' 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 ...
.
References
Further reading
* Boulenger GA (1894). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I–XX. (''Rhabdophidium forsteni'', replacement name, p. 328).
* Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G
Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French zoologist and herpetologist. He was born in Paris. The son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hire ...
, Duméril A H-A(1854). ''Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Première partie. Comprenant l'histoire des serpents non venimeux.'' General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of the Reptiles. Volume 7. Part 1. Containing the Natural History of the Nonvenomous Snakes Paris: Roret. xvi + 780 pp. (''Rabdion forsteni'', new species, pp. 116–119). (in French).
* Koch A (2012). ''Discovery, Diversity, and Distribution of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Sulawesi and its offshore islands''. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Chimaira. 374 pp. .
* Leviton AE (1958). "Reinstatement of the Generic Name ''Rabdion'' A.H.A. Dumeril for a Monotypic Genus of Asian Burrowing Snakes". ''Herpetologica'' 14 (1): 47–48.
Reptiles described in 1854
Taxa named by André Marie Constant Duméril
Taxa named by Gabriel Bibron
Taxa named by Auguste Duméril
Rabdion
Reptiles of Indonesia
{{Colubrid-stub