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Ahaetulla mycterizans (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Ahaetulla mycterizans - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaColubridae, Ahaetuliinae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Malayan (Green) Whipsnake
G: Malaiische Peitschennatter 
SynonymColuber mycterizans LINNAEUS 1758: 226
Coluber nasutus LACÉPÈDE 1789
Dryophis xanthozonia BOIE 1827 (fide SMITH 1943)
Tragops xanthozonius — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 826
Passerita mycterizans — GÜNTHER 1859: 231
Dryophis xanthozonia — BOULENGER 1896: 180 (fide SMITH 1943)
Ahaetulla mycterizans — LINK 1807
Dryophis xnathozona — BOULENGER 1896: 180 (emendation)
Dryophis mycterizans — EVANS 1905: 169
Dryophis mycterizans — WALL 1908: 783
Dryophis mycterizans — WALL 1921: 291
Passerita xanthozonia— SMITH 1930
Dryophis mycterizans — SMITH 1943: 376
Dryophis mycterizans — TWEEDIE 1950
Ahaetulla mycterizans — COX et al. 1998: 68
Ahaetulla mycterizans — COX et al. 2012: 89
Ahaetulla mycterizans — WALLACH et al. 2014: 20 
DistributionIndonesia (Java, Sumatra, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, possibly Borneo), Thailand, Laos ?, W Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar

Type locality: “America” (fide LINNAEUS 1758; in error)  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: NRM 81 
DiagnosisDiagnosis and definition (Ahaetuliinae): Snakes of this subfamily are arboreal and are diagnosed by keeled ventral and subcaudal scales (laterally notched in some species), and enlarged posterior grooved fangs lacking in some Dendrelaphis.


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CommentMildly venomous but usually harmless for humans.

Synonymy: Ahaetulla GRAY 1825 was proposed to be listed as a rejected and invalid name by Savage & Oliver 1957 as it is a junior homonym of Ahaetulla LINK 1807.

Distribution: Removed from the list of Pulau Tioman by ROOIJEN & ROOIJEN 2002. Probably in Borneo (both Sarawak and Kalimantan), but likely confused with A. prasina, based on genetic data presented by Srikanthan et al. 2022 and iNaturalist observations (B. Lardner, pers. comm., 22 July 2024).

Habitat: fully arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018).

Type species: Coluber mycterizans LINNAEUS 1758: 226 is the type species of the genus Ahaetulla Link 1807. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek “mucterizo” = I turn up the nose.

The genus names is derived from the Sri Lankan language Sinhala, ahaetulla/ahata gulla/as gulla, meaning “eye plucker” or “eye picker” for belief that they pluck out the eyes of humans as accounted by the Portuguese traveler João Ribeiro in 1685. The gender is feminine. 
References
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Chan-ard, T., Parr, J.W.K. & Nabhitabhata, J. 2015. A field guide to the reptiles of Thailand. Oxford University Press, NY, 352 pp. [see book reviews by Pauwels & Grismer 2015 and Hikida 2015 for corrections] - get paper here
  • Cox, Merel J.; Hoover, M.F.; Chanhome, Lawan & Thirakhupt,Kumthorn 2012. The Snakes of Thailand. Chulalongkorn University Museum of Natural History, 845 pp.
  • Cox, Merel J.; Van Dijk, Peter Paul; Jarujin Nabhitabhata & Thirakhupt,Kumthorn 1998. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Ralph Curtis Publishing, 144 pp.
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  • Figueroa A, McKelvy AD, Grismer LL, Bell CD, Lailvaux SP 2016. A Species-Level Phylogeny of Extant Snakes with Description of a New Colubrid Subfamily and Genus. PLoS One 11 (9): e0161070.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161070 - get paper here
  • FIGUEROA, ALEX; MARTYN E.Y. LOW, KELVIN K.P. LIM 2023. Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution. Zootaxa 5287 (1): 001–378 - get paper here
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  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • Hien,P. Grossmann,W. & Schäfer, C. 2001. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der landbewohnenden Reptilienfauna von Pulau Tioman, West-Malaysia. Sauria 23 (4): 11-28 - get paper here
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  • Indahsari L I N et al 2019. DNA barcoding as a method for species identification: case study in Ahaetulla snake. J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1374 012011 - get paper here
  • INDAHSARI, LILIN IKA NUR; FATCHIYAH FATCHIYAH, ERIC NELSON SMITH, NIA KURNIAWAN 2020. First record of Ahaetulla mycterizans (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the Lesser Sunda region, Indonesia, based on molecular and morphological identification. Turk J Zool 44: 11-21 - get paper here
  • KHOERUNISA, IRA; MIRZA D. KUSRINI, AND ANI MARDIASTUTI 2021. Diversity of snake rescued from residential areas in Greater Jakarta metropolitan area, Indonesia. Media Konservasi 26 (3): 231-238; DOI: 10.29244/medkon.26.3.231-238 - get paper here
  • Kinloch, A. M. 1919. The Habits of Dryophis mycterizans. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26: 681 - get paper here
  • LAM, N. Q., THU, T. T. A., NGUYEN, L. T., MURPHY, R. W., & NGUYEN, S. N. 2021. A new species of Ahaetulla Link, 1807 (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Zootaxa 4966 (3): 290-304 - get paper here
  • Lang, Ruud de 2017. The Snakes of Java, Bali and Surrounding Islands. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 435 pp. - get paper here
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  • Link, H.F. 1807. Beschreibung der Naturalien-Sammlung der Universität zu Rostock, zweite Abtheilung. Adlers Erben, Rostock, pp. 51-100 - get paper here
  • Linnaeus, C. [= Linné, C. von] 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiæ. 10th Edition: 824 pp. - get paper here
  • Mallik AK, Achyuthan NS, Ganesh SR, Pal SP, Vijayakumar SP, Shanker K 2019. Discovery of a deeply divergent new lineage of vine snake (Colubridae: Ahaetuliinae: Proahaetulla gen. nov. ) from the southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India with a revised key for Ahaetuliinae. PLoS ONE 14 (7): e0218851 - get paper here
  • MEGANTARA, E. N., JAUHAN, J., SHANIDA, S. S., HUSODO, T., FAUZI, D. A., HENDRAWAN, R., WULANDARI, I. & YUANSAH, Y. 2022. Herpetofauna distribution in different land cover types of West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 23(6) - get paper here
  • MIDTGAARD, R.: 2011. Erster fotografischer Nachweis mit Fundortdaten der seltenen Schlange Ahaetulla mycterizans (LINNAEUS, 1758) aus Singapur. Sauria 33 (3): 59-60 - get paper here
  • Miralles A, David P 2010. First record of Ahaetulla mycterizans (Linnaeus, 1758) from Sumatra, Indonesia (Squamata, Colubridae), with an expanded definition of this poorly known species. Zoosystema, 32(3): 449-456 - get paper here
  • Nabhitabhata, J., T. Chan-ard and Y. Chuaynkern 2000. Checklist of Amphibians and Reptiles in Thailand. Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, Bankok. 152pp.
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  • Rooijen, J. van & van Rooijen, M. 2002. Einige Ergänzungen, Berichtigungen und neue Beobachtungen zur Herpetofauna von Pulau Tioman, West-Malaysia. Sauria 24 (3): 3-12 [erratum in 24 (4): 34] - get paper here
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