Sri lankan flying snake
Chrysopelea taprobanica, the Sri Lankan flying snake or Indian flying snake, is a species of gliding snake distributed in India and Sri Lanka. It can glide, as with all species of its genus Chrysopelea, by stretching the body into a flattened strip using its ribs. The snake is known as "dangara dandaa - දඟරදන්ඩා" in Sinhala, due to its folding postures.
Diurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
Gliding flight is heavier-than-air flight without the use of thrust and is employed by gliding animals. Birds in particular use gliding flight to m...
C
starts withChrysopelea taprobanica is a medium-sized snake, reaching 60–90 cm (24–35 in) length. The head is depressed. Eyes are large with round pupils. Ventral scales have keels laterally. Vertebral scales are not enlarged. Dorsal scales are smooth or feebly keeled. Dorsal side is greenish yellow or pale green. Orange to red spots can be seen between dark cross bands. Head is black dorsally with yellow and black cross-bars. Ventral side is pale green with a series of black lateral spots on each side.
There are 198–214 ventral scales and 107–123 subcaudal scaless.
The Sri Lankan flying snake is distributed in Sri Lanka and Peninsular India. population in Sri Lanka can be found in dry zone lowlands and parts of the intermediate climatic zones, including Polonnaruwa, Wilpattu National Park, Sigiriya, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Trincomalee, and Monaragala. This species was believed to be endemic to Sri Lanka until researchers recorded a few specimens from Andhra Pradesh (India) and found old museum specimens collected from India that are now assigned to this species. More recently this species has been sighted in parts of Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu.
Its diet consists mainly of lizards, such as geckos and agamids. Bats, rodents, birds and other small snakes may also be taken.
Chrysopelea taprobanica is oviparous.
