Oligodon woodmasoni, the yellow-striped kukri snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Nicobar Islands of India.

Oligodon woodmasoni
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Oligodon
Species:
O. woodmasoni
Binomial name
Oligodon woodmasoni
(Sclater, 1891)[2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Simotes wood-masoni
    Sclater, 1891
  • Oligodon woodmasoni
    Wall, 1923
  • Oligodon woodmasoni
    Wallach et al., 2014

Etymology

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The specific name, woodmasoni, is in honor of English zoologist James Wood-Mason.[4]

Description

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M.A. Smith reported that the holotype of this species was missing from the ZSI Kolkata collections. The species was rediscovered in 2002 and a new specimen was deposited at the ZSI.[5]

The details of the specimen, ZSI25503 are as follows:

Snout-to-vent length: 440 mm (17 in). Tail length: 80 mm (3.1 in).
Dorsal scale rows: at neck 18; at midbody 17.
Ventrals: 185. Subcaudals: 46.
Supralabials: 6 (4th in contact with the eye). Infralabials: 7.

Reproduction

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O. woodmasoni is oviparous.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Mohapatra, P. (2021). "Oligodon woodmasoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T202847A2757306. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T202847A2757306.en. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  2. ^ Sclater WL (1891). "Notes on the Collection of Snakes in the Indian Museum, with descriptions of several new species". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 60: 230-250 + Plate VI. (Simotes wood-masoni, new species, pp. 235-236 + Plate VI, figures 2a-2d).
  3. ^ a b Species Oligodon woodmasoni at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. ^ 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. (Oligodon woodmasoni, p. 289).
  5. ^ Krishnan S (2003). "The distribution of some reptiles in the Nicobar Islands, India". ANET technical report - May 2003.

Further reading

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  • Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. (Simotes woodmasoni, p. 223).
  • Sharma RC (2003). Handbook: Indian Snakes. Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India. 292 pp. ISBN 978-8181711694.
  • Smith MA (1943). The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Oligodon woodmasoni, pp. 218–219, Figure 73).
  • Vijayakumar SP, David P (2006). "Taxonomy, Natural History, and Distribution of the Snakes of the Nicobar Islands (India), Based on New Materials and with an Emphasis on Endemic Species". Russian Journal of Herpetology 13 (1): 11–40.