Eastern trinket snake explained

The eastern trinket snake (Elaphe cantoris) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to South Asia.

Etymology

The specific name, cantoris, is in honor of Danish zoologist Theodore Edward Cantor.^[1]

Geographic range

E. cantoris is found in the Himalayas in Bhutan, India (Assam, Darjeeling, Sikkim), Myanmar, and Nepal. The type locality is the Khasi and Garo Hills in Meghalaya.^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of E. cantoris is mountain forest at elevations of 1000-.

Description

E. cantoris is a large species, and may grow to a total length (including tail) of almost 2m (07feet). Dorsally, it has a brownish ground color, which is overlaid by a series of squarish dark brown blotches. Ventrally, it is yellowish anteriorly, becoming pinkish posteriorly.^[3]

Behavior

E. cantoris is partly arboreal.^[2]

Reproduction

E. cantoris is oviparous. In India, sexually mature females lay eggs in late July, with an average clutch size of 10 eggs.^[3]

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1894). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I-XX. (Coluber cantoris, new species, p. 35).
• Chen X, Lemmon AR, Lemmon EM, Pyron RA, Burbrink FT (2017). "Using phylogenomics to understand the link between biogeographic origins and regional diversification in ratsnakes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 111: 206–218. (Elaphe cantoris).
• Helfenberger, Notker

Shah, Karan B.; Orlov, Nicolai L.; Guex, Gaston-Denis (2000). "Eine seltene Natter aus Nepal, Elaphe cantoris (Boulenger, 1894) (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae) ". Sauria 22 (2): 3–10. (in German).

• 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. (Elaphe cantoris, new combination, pp. 152–153).
• Wallach V (1997). "A monograph of the colubrid snakes of the genus Elaphe Fitzinger (book review)". Herpetological Review 28 (2): 110. (Gonyosoma cantoris, new combination).

Notes and References

1. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
2. www.reptile-database.org.
3. [:fr:Indraneil Das|Das I]