Boiga beddomei

Boiga beddomei, commonly known as Beddome's cat snake, is a species of rear-fanged snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Western Ghats of India.[1]

Boiga beddomei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Boiga
Species:
B. beddomei
Binomial name
Boiga beddomei
(Wall, 1909)
Synonyms[1]
  • Dipsadomorphus beddomei
    Wall, 1909
  • Boiga beddomei
    — Das, 1996

Geographic range

In India, B. beddomei is found in northern parts of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra state (Bhimashankar, Mulshi, Koyna, Vasota).[1]

Etymology

B. beddomei was named after Richard Henry Beddome (1830–1911), British army officer and botanist.[2]

Description

B. beddomei is a slender snake. The head is distinct from the neck. The vertebral scales are strongly enlarged. The dorsum is grayish brown with dark brown vertebral cross bars. The ventral surface is yellowish-cream, densely powdered with blackish spots.

Scalation

The dorsal scales are arranged in 19 oblique rows at midbody; the vertebral row is strongly enlarged and hexagonal. The ventrals number 238-252 and the subcaudals number 113–127.

Diet

B. beddomei feeds mainly on geckos and skinks.

Reproduction

B. beddomei is oviparous.[1]

References
  1. Boiga beddomei at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 14 January 2017.
  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. (Boiga beddomei, p. 21).

Further reading
  • Whitaker, Romulus; Captain, Ashok (2008). Snakes of India, The Field Guide. Chennai, India: Draco Books. 500 pp. ISBN 81-901873-0-9.
  • Wall, Frank (1909). "Remarks on some forms of Dipsadomorphus". Rec. Ind. Mus. 3: 151–155. (Dipsadomorphus beddomei, new species, p. 152).
  • GANESH, S.R., N.S. ACHYUTHAN, S.R. CHANDRAMOULI & GERNOT VOGEL (2020). Taxonomic revision of the Boiga ceylonensis group (Serpentes: Colubridae): re-examination of type specimens, redefinition of nominate taxa and an updated key. Zootaxa 4779 (3): 301–332.


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