Ahaetulla malabarica

The Malabar vine snake (Ahaetulla malabarica), is a species of tree snake endemic to the southern portion of the central Western Ghats of India.[1][2][3]

Malabar vine snake
At Tadiandamol, Karnataka
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Ahaetulla
Species:
A. malabarica
Binomial name
Ahaetulla malabarica
Mallik, Srikanthan, Pal, Princia D'Souza, Shanker, and Ganesh, 2020

Taxonomy

It was formerly considered conspecific with A. nasuta, which is now considered to only be endemic to Sri Lanka. A 2020 study found A. nasuta to be a species complex of A. nasuta sensu stricto as well as A. borealis, A. farnsworthi, A. isabellina, and A. malabarica.[1]

Geographic range

This species is distributed in the southern portion of the central Western Ghats, from the Palghat Gap in Tamil Nadu and Kerala north to Tadiandamol in Karnataka. A. farnsworthi is found to the north of the species' range and may be sympatric with it at Coorg (although largely separated by rivers), while A. isabellina is found to the south of the species' range, being separated from it by the Palghat Gap.[1]

Habitat

The species is found in mid-elevation evergreen forests in the Western Ghats from ~650 to 1400 msl.[1]

References
  1. Mallik, Ashok Kumar; Srikanthan, Achyuthan N.; Pal, Saunak P.; D’souza, Princia Margaret; Shanker, Kartik; Ganesh, Sumaithangi Rajagopalan (2020-11-06). "Disentangling vines: a study of morphological crypsis and genetic divergence in vine snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Ahaetulla ) with the description of five new species from Peninsular India". Zootaxa. 4874 (1): 1–62. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4874.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
  2. Staff Reporter (2020-11-14). "New species of vine snakes discovered". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  3. "The discovery of five new species of vine snakes in India". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
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