Ahaetulla farnsworthi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Farnsworth's vine snake | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In Agumbe, Karnataka | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Subfamily: | Ahaetuliinae |
| Genus: | Ahaetulla |
| Species: | A. farnsworthi |
| Binomial name | |
| Ahaetulla farnsworthi Mallik, Srikanthan, Pal, Princia D'Souza, Shanker, and Ganesh, 2020 | |
Farnsworth's vine snake (Ahaetulla farnsworthi) is a species of tree snake endemic to the central Western Ghats of India.[1][2][3]
It was formerly considered conspecific with A. nasuta, which is now considered to only be endemic to Sri Lanka. A 2020 study found A. nasuta to be a species complex of A. nasuta sensu stricto as well as A. borealis, A. farnsworthi, A. isabellina, and A. malabarica.[1] The species is named after the character Professor Farnsworth from the American animated television series Futurama, as a reference to the character's efforts in resurrecting barking snakes from extinction.[1]
Description
The body is very slender. Adults can reach a total length of 1 m. Dorsum is uniform bright green to olive green. Rostral, infralabials and venter are yellowish green to light green at mid body; yellow to white ventral stripe along notched ventral keels; slight discolouration in the pre-ocular scale; inter-scalar skin white with black and white anteriorly-converging bars; white replaced by reddish brown inter-scalar skin posteriorly; eyes golden yellow with black speckles; concentration of black speckles both in the anterior and posterior ends of a horizontal pupil; slight discolouration around the pupil; tail, subcaudals green.[1]
In general, scalation follows intraspecific variations: ventrals 167–177 notched with keels; subcaudals (males) 141–165, divided (females) 126–150, divided; anal divided; dorsal scale rows in 13/15/16–15-13/11 rows of smooth, obliquely disposed scales; supralabials 7–8, 5th supralabial in contact with the eye; 4th supralabial divided; loreal absent; infralabials 8–10; pre-suboculars 1–2; pre-ocular 1 (both left and right); post-oculars 2; sub-oculars absent; temporals 1+2 or 2+2 or 2+3.[1]