| Indian Egg-eating Snake | ||||||||||||||||
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| Elachistodon westermanni (Reinhardt, 1863) |
Indian Egg-eating Snake (Elachistodon westermanni) is a rare species of egg-eating snake found in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. Also called the Westermann's snake, reflecting its scientific name. The snake belongs to the monotypic genus Elachistodon. Recent discoveries of the species from Maharashtra and Gujarat suggests that the species may be more widespread.[1][2]
This species is glossy brown to black with bluish white flecks toward the hind end and a creamy stripe on the mid dorsal from neck to tail tip. The head is brown with a black arrow mark. The ventral are white with brown dots. It is nocturnal.[3]
The snake has special adaptations such as a vertebral hypapophysis, a projection of the backbone, that juts into the oesophagus and helps in cracking eggs.[4]
References
- ^ Captain, A. & F. Tillack & A. Gumprecht & P. Dandge (2005). "First Record of Elachistodon westermanni Reinhardt 1863 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Colubrinae) from Maharashtra State, India.". Russian Journal of Herpetology 12 (2): 156 – 158.
- ^ Nande R and Sawan Deshmukh (2007). "Snakes of Amravati district including Melghat, Maharashtra, with important records of the Indian egg-eater, montane trinket snake and Indian Smooth Snake". Zoos' Print Journal 22 (12): 2920-2924. http://www.zoosprint.org/ZooPrintJournal/2007/December/2920-2924.pdf.
- ^ Dandge, Parag (2007). "Food and feeding habits of Elachistodon westermanni Reinhardt, 1863.". Hamadryad 32 (1).
- ^ Gans, Carl, Oshima, Masamitsu, 1952. Adaptations for egg eating in the snake Elaphe climacophora (Boie). American Museum novitates ; no. 1571 [1]
External links
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