Lycodon jara

Lycodon jara, commonly known as the twin-spotted wolf snake, is a species of colubrid snake. It is endemic to Asia.

Lycodon jara
A twin-spotted wolf snake from North Bengal.
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Genus:	Lycodon
Species:	L. jara
Binomial name
Lycodon jara (Shaw, 1802)[2]
Synonyms
Coluber jara Shaw, 1802 Lycodon jara - Schlegel, 1837 Coluber bipunctatus Cantor, 1839 Leptorhytaon jara - Günther, 1858 Lycophidion bipunctatum - Peters, 1863 Lycodon jara - Stoliczka, 1871[3]

Distribution

Dorsal scales of Lycodon jara showing the yellow "twin spots" to which the common name refers

Found in Bangladesh, India (Assam, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal and parts of Uttar Pradesh) and Nepal.

Description

Snout much depressed; eye rather small. Rostral much broader than long, just visible from above; internasals much shorter than the prefrontals; frontal as long as or a little shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, a little shorter than the parietals; loreal elongate, not entering the eye; one pre-ocular; two post-oculars; temporals small, 1 + 2; 9 or 10 upper labials, third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are longer than the posterior.

Dorsal scales smooth, in 17 rows. Ventrals 167–175, not angulate laterally; anal divided; subcaudals 56–63, in two rows.

Coloration in alcohol (for preserved specimens): brown above, each scale with two white dots or short longitudinal lines; labials white; usually a white collar; lower surface uniform white.^[4]

Total length 35 cm (133⁄4 inches); tail 6 cm (23⁄8 inches).^[5]

Gallery

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  Rescued individual from Jalpaiguri, West Bengal
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