Kapuas mud snake | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Serpentes |
Family: | Homalopsidae |
Genus: | Homalophis |
Species: | H. gyii |
Binomial name | |
Homalophis gyii | |
Synonyms[2] | |
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The Kapuas mud snake (Homalophis gyii) is a species of snake in the family Homalopsidae. The species, which is native to Borneo, can change its epidermal colour spontaneously.[3]
Etymology
The common name, Kapuas mud snake, refers to the Kapuas River. The specific name, gyii, is in honor of Burmese herpetologist Dr Ko Ko Gyi.[4]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of H. gyii is freshwater wetlands.[1]
Colour change
The Kapuas mud snake's chameleon-like behaviour was discovered accidentally in 2005 when a specimen was put in a dark bucket. The snake's skin turned pale white 20 minutes later.[5] Scientists determined the snake to be a new species belonging to the genus Enhydris.
Description
H. gyii may attain a total length (including tail) of 150 cm (59 in).
Venom
Like all members of the subfamily Homalopsinae, H. gyii is rear-fanged and mildly venomous.
Reproduction
H. gyii is viviparous.[2]
References
- 1 2 Murphy, J. (2010). "Enhydris gyii ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T176679A7282427.en. Accessed on 25 November 2023.
- 1 2 Species Homalophis gyii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Murphy, John C.; Harold K. Voris; Mark Auliya (31 Dec 2005). "A new species of Enhydris (Serpentes: Colubridae: Homalopsinae) from the Kapuas river system, West Kalimantan, Indonesia" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 53 (2): 271–275. (Enhydris gyii, new species). Retrieved 2006-06-27.
- ↑ 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. (Enhydris gyii, p. 112).
- ↑ "Snake displays changing colours". BBC News. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
Further reading
- Das, Indraneil (2012). A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford, England: John Beaufoy Publishing. 176 pp. ISBN 978-1906780708.
- Gyi, Ko Ko (1970). "A Revision of Colubrid Snakes of the Subfamily Homalopsinae". University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History 20 (2): 47–223. (Enhydris doriae, p. 130).
- Murphy, John C.; Voris, Harold K. (2014). "A Checklist and Key to the Homalopsid Snakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes), with the Description of New Genera". Fieldiana: Life and Earth Sciences (8): 1-43. (Homalophis gyii, new combination, p. 23).
- Stuebing, Robert B.; Inger, Robert F.; Lardner, Björn (2014). A Field Guide to the Snakes of Borneo, Second Edition. Borneo: Natural History Publications. 310 pp. ISBN 978-9838121514.
External links
- Data related to Homalophis gyii at Wikispecies
- http://animalpicturesarchive.com/view.php?tid=2&did=22635 Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine