Pareas andersonii, also known as Anderson's slug snake, is a small, non-venomous snake found in India (Nagaland), northern Myanmar, and China (Yunnan).[1]

Pareas andersonii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pareidae
Genus: Pareas
Species:
P. andersonii
Binomial name
Pareas andersonii
Boulenger, 1888
Synonyms[1]
  • Pareas andersonii Boulenger, 1888
  • Amblycephalus andersoni Wall, 1908
  • Pareas macularius Smith, 1943
  • Amblycephalus andersoni Deuve, 1961
  • Pareas macularius Wogan et al., 2008
  • Pareas macularius Wallach et al., 2014
  • Pareas margaritophorus akzuala & Lalremsanga, 2019
  • Pareas macularius Deepak et al., 2020
  • Pareas margaritophorus Li et al., 2020
  • Pareas andersonii Vogel et al., 2020
  • Pareas (Eberhardtia) andersonii Poyarkov et al., 2022

Description

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Mostly dark grey with a bluish sheen, vertical black and white stripes color the dorsum and sides of P. andersonii, but lose their form closer to the posterior end to instead become random speckling.[1]

The top of its head is dark grey with many black spots, lacking a nuchal spot or collar.[2] The sides of its head have dense white mottling, including mostly-white labial scales with black spots around the edges. The ventral part of its head is white or beige with black mottling while the rest of the ventrum white or beige with many black rectangular spots across the ventral shields.[3]

Behaviour

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Like others in Pareas, P. andersonii is a semi-arboreal, nocturnal snake primarily preying upon land snails and slugs.[1]

Etymology

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Named in honor of John Anderson (1833–1900).[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Pareas andersonii". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  2. ^ Ding, Li; Chen, Zening; Suwannapoom, Chatmongkon; Nguyen, Tan Van; Poyarkov, Nikolay; Vogel, Gernot (November 2020). "A NEW SPECIES OF THE Pareas hamptoni COMPLEX (SQUAMATA : SERPENTES : PAREIDAE) FROM THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE". TAPROBANICA: The Journal of Asian Biodiversity. 9 (2): 174–193.
  3. ^ Boulenger, George (1888). Annali del Museo civico di storia naturale di Genova [Annals of the Civic Museum of Natural History of Genova] (in Italian). Genova: Genova Tip. del R. Istituto Sordo-Muti 1870-1914. pp. 601–604. ISBN 8870581535.