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Brown-speckled Whipsnake
Ahaetulla pulverulenta
Brown-speckled whipsnake or brown vine snake (Ahaetulla pulverulenta) is a species of tree snake found in India (Western Ghats, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat), Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It is known as හෙනකදයා (henakadaya) in Sinhala; this name provided the name anaconda.
From the article Ahaetulla pulverulenta on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Its slender body can be up to 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) long from snout to tail, and is grayish-brown colored, with darker blackish spots above and a gray or brown underside. It has a pointed snout, ending in a dermal appendage at the tip. It has a dark brown rhomboidal spot on the top of the head, and a brown stripe on each side of the head passing through the eye. Large, transversely oval eye with horizontal pupil; gray or brown, with darker brown spots and dark brown cross or cross-shaped markings.
Range & habitat
It is found exclusively in Sri Lanka. Populations in the Western Ghats of India are now considered a separate species, Ahaetulla sahyadrensis. It lives in forests and is fully arboreal.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
What it does
It feeds on lizards and other invertebrates, and it is ovoviviparous, giving birth to 5-15 live offspring.
Wikipedia: “Behavior”
In human culture
It is known as හෙනකදයා (henakadaya) in Sinhala; this name provided the name anaconda. The species name pulverulenta is from Latin, named after its ashy or dusty grayish brown coloration.
Wikipedia: “Etymology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ahaetulla pulverulenta in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 30186.