Elaphe davidi explained

Elaphe davidi, also known commonly as Pere David's rat snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to East Asia.

Etymology

The specific name, davidi, is in honor of Armand David, who was a French zoologist and priest.^[1]

Geographic range

E. davidi is found in China and North Korea.^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of E. davidi are forest and grassland, at altitudes of, but it has also been found in agricultural areas such as orchards.

Diet

E. davidi preys upon frogs, lizards, and snakes. Captive specimens have also eaten mice.

Reproduction

E. davidi is oviparous.^[2] Eggs are laid in August, and clutch size is 7–8.

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 davidi, p. 56).
• Pope CH (1935). The Reptiles of China: Turtles, Crocodilians, Snakes, Lizards. (Volume X of the Natural History of Central Asia series, edited by Chester A. Reeds). New York: American Museum of Natural History. lii + 604 pp., 28 figures, Plates I–XXVII. (Elaphe davidi, pp. 238–240, Figure 52).
• Sauvage H-E (1884). "Sur quelques Reptiles de la collection du Muséum d'histoire naturelle". Bulletin de la Société Philomathique de Paris, Septième Série [Seventh Series] 18 : 142–147. (Tropidonotus davidi, new species, p. 144). (in French).
• Szyndlar, Zbigniew (1985). "Occurrence of Elaphe davidi (Sauvage, 1884) (Serpentes: Colubridae) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea". The Snake 17 (2): 163–167.

Notes and References

1. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
2. . www.reptile-database.org.