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Boiga dightoni

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Boiga dightoni
Scientific classification
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B. dightoni
Binomial name
Boiga dightoni
(Boulenger, 1894)
Synonyms
  • Dipsas dightoni
    Boulenger, 1894
  • Dipsadomorphus dightonii
    — Boulenger, 1896
  • Boiga dightoni
    M.A. Smith, 1943[1]

Boiga dightoni, commonly known as the Pirmad cat snake or the Travancore cat snake,[2][3] is a species of rear-fanged colubrid endemic to the Western Ghats of India.

Etymology

The common name, Pirmad cat snake, refers to Peermade (also spelled Peermad, Pirmaad, and Pirmedu), a place in Kerala, India, elevation 3,300 feet (1,006 m).

The specific name or epithet, dightoni, is in honor of tea planter S.M. Dighton, the collector of the holotype specimen.[3]

Description

Boiga dightoni is pale reddish-brown dorsally, with a series of salmon-red blotches. Its head is pale brown with minute blackish dots. Ventrally, it is yellowish, finely-dotted with brown. The outer ends of the ventral scales are salmon-pink. It is medium-sized, adults attaining a total length (including tail) of 1.1 m (3.6 feet).[4]

References

  1. ^ "Boiga dightoni ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ^ Das I. 2002. Snakes and Other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Boiga dightoni, p. 22).
  3. ^ a b Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Boiga dightoni, p. 72).
  4. ^ Boulenger GA. 1896. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Dipsadomorphus dightonii, pp. 69-70).

Further reading

  • Boulenger GA. 1894. "Description of a New Snake Found in Travancore, by Mr. S. Dighton. Pirmaad." J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 8: 528 + one plate. (Dipsas dightoni, new species).
  • Smith MA. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-region. Reptilia and Amphibia, Vol. III.—Serpentes. London: Secretary of State for India. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 583 pp. (Boiga dightoni, pp. 359-360).