Indian egg-eating snake

Indian egg-eating snake ( Elachistodon westermanni )

The Indian egg-eating snake ( Elachistodon westermanni ) is a species of snake in the monotypic genus Elachistodon within the family of snakes. It was named after William Westermann, the 1863 holotype collected.

Description

The Indian egg-eating snake reaches a length of 84 cm. The elongate body is laterally flattened. The large eyes have vertical pupils. The top is dark olive brown to black. The scales on the center back along the spinal column ( referred to as Vertebralia ) are yellow, which extends other than at their outer edges where they form a light Vertebralstreifen over the entire length of the body. The underside is white. The outer edges of belly scales and the adjacent rows of scales are brown border. A yellow stripe runs along the top of the head above the eyes from the nose to the corners of the mouth. On the neck, an awkward spots can be seen. The lips are yellow.

Occurrence

Historical evidence come from Terai, Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttaranchal. The most recent observations are from the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Way of life

The Indian egg-eating snake feeds on reptile and bird eggs. With the help of coated with enamel thorn -like appendages ( hypapophyses ) to the esophageal wall, the eggs are swallowed and broken. The content of the egg is swallowed and regurgitated the eggshells again.

Status

From 1863 to 2003 the Indian egg-eating snake was known by only 8 copies. The small number of individuals collected was considered the way for long lost until Parag Dandge, District Coordinator of Satpuda Foundation in Wardha, Maharashtra discovered a dead specimen in August 2003, which was partially eaten by ants. Since he could not identify the snake, preserved and he photographed them and sent the pictures to the Centre for Herpetology in Chennai, at the Bombay Natural History Society ( BNHS ) and the Indian Herpetological Society ( IPS) in Pune. 2005 finally succeeded in German and Indian taxonomists to identify the specimen as Indian egg-eating snake. Between 2005 and 2007, the first living specimens in the districts of Amravati have been discovered in Maharashtra and Bhavnagar in Gujarat. The Indian egg-eating snake is listed in the IUCN Red List as Data deficient ( Insufficient data ) and in Appendix II of CITES.