Forest vine snake

Forest vine snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Suborder:Serpentes
Family:Colubridae
Genus:Thelotornis
Species: T. kirtlandii
Binomial name
Thelotornis kirtlandii
(Hallowell, 1844)
Synonyms[1]
  • Leptophis kirtlandii
    Hallowell, 1844
  • Dryophis kirtlandii
    — Hallowell, 1854
  • Oxybelis kirtlandii
    — Hallowell, 1857
  • Thelotornis kirtlandii
    — Fischer, 1884

The forest vine snake (Thelotornis kirtlandii ), also known commonly as the twig snake and the bird snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Africa.

Etymology

The specific name, kirtlandii, is in honor of American naturalist Jared Potter Kirtland.[2]

Geographic range

T. kirtlandii is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, south to a latitude of about 17° S. It has been recorded from Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.[1]

Diet

T. kirtlandii is known to eat small birds.

Reproduction

T. kirtlandii is oviparous.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Thelotornis kirtlandii ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Thelotornis kirtlandi [sic]", p. 142).

Further reading

  • Hallowell E (1844). "Descriptions of new species of African Reptiles". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 2: 58-62. (Leptophis kirtlandii, new species, p. 62).


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