Oligodon taeniolatus

Streaked Kukri Snake
	Oligodon taeniolatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Oligodon
Species:	O. taeniolatus
Binomial name
	Oligodon taeniolatus; (Jerdon, 1853)

Streaked Kukri Snake (Oligodon taeniolatus) is a species of nonvenomous snake found in Asia. Also known as the Variegated Kukri or the Russell's Kukri.

Has specialised curved teeth shaped like Kukri Knives to slit open eggs. The Variegated Kukri, which is shows considerable colour and marking variations. Also known as Russell's Kukri that Attributed to Dr. Patrick Russell. Small snakes with smooth, glossy scales coloured reddish-brown on dorsal and belly is white. Exhibits multiple patterns from series of long streaks from neck to tail & sometimes bands too. Small eyes with round pupils, arrow pattern on head & thick dark collar behind neck. Hide in rock piles, crevices, under wooden logs & loose roots near dense vegetation & rocks. Mainly eat small lizards, insects & particularly fond of reptile eggs. Nocturnal & semi-fossorial species, forage at night, sometimes even day terrestrially. When provoked, form loose coils with body & lift fore-body off ground. Bites can tear skin due to curved teeth. Streaked Kukri Snake grows to a maximum of 59 cm. There are 82 recognized species in the genus Oligodon. While upto 20 species of Oligodon are found in India and only 2 Species are founded in Pakistan. In the natural environment, these snakes can live for 15 to 30 years.

Oligodon taeniolatus (satara, maharashtra)

Distribution[]

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, S. Turkmenistan, E. Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh (Sub-species: fasciatus).

References[]

Bauer, A.M. 2003 On the status of the name Oligodon taeniolatus (Jerdon, 1853) and its long-ignored senior synonym and secondary homonym, Oligodon taeniolatus (Daudin, 1803). Hamadryad 27: 205–213.
Boulenger, George A. 1890 The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp.
Dotsenko I B 1984 Morphological characters and ecological peculiarities of Oligodon taeniolatus (Serpentes, Colubridae). Vestnik Zoologii 1984 (4): 23-26
Jerdon,T.C. 1853 Catalogue of the Reptiles inhabiting the Peninsula of India. Part 2. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal xxii: 522-534 [1853]
Wall, Frank 1921 Ophidia Taprobanica or the Snakes of Ceylon. Colombo Mus. (H. R. Cottle, government printer), Colombo. xxii, 581 pages

External links[]

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