Large-eyed bronzeback
Dendrelaphis grandoculis commonly called as the large-eyed bronzeback is a species of Colubrid snake endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India.
Greek, grand meaning large and oculis of the eye; hence the common name large-eyed bronzeback.
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 ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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...
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starts withEye extremely large, as long as its distance from the rostral. Rostral much broader than long, visible from above, its upper border nearly straight ; suture between the internasals as long as that between the pra^frontals or a little longer ; frontal as long as its distance from the end of the snout, as long as the parietals ; loreal elongate; one pre- and two postoculars ; temporals 2+2; upper labials 9, fourth, fifth, and sixth entering the eye ; 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter than the posterior. Scales in 15 rows, vertebrals nearly as large as the outer row. Ventrals 174–170; anal divided; subcaudals 117. Olive-brown above, with irregular small black blotches ; eye bordered with whitish ; lower parts pale olive. Total length 4 feet ; tail 13 1/2 inches. (after Boulenger)
This species is endemic to Western Ghats and is known from Agasthyamalai, Travancore hills, Periyar Tiger Reserve, Anaimalai, Waynad, Coorg and Malnad region of Karnataka, northwards till Castle Rock near Goa.
Rather slow in speed for a bronzeback, it slithers across tree branches foraging for lizards, frogs and small birds to eat. A diurnal and arboreal forest-dwelling snake, partial to rainforests. Rarely seen in plantations and monocultures.
