Lycodon bicolor
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Lycodon bicolor, commonly known as the two-coloured wolf snake, bicolored wolf snake, golden wolf snake, and Mackinnon's wolf snake, is a species of colubrid snake native to the Western Himalayas.
Distribution
Lycodon bicolor is restricted to the western Himalayas, ranging from Uttarakhand in India east through Jammu & Kashmir to POK in Pakistan. It was originally described from Mussoorie, but was not found again at its type locality for over 112 years until it was rediscovered in 2019 during survey work in Binog Wildlife Sanctuary; these findings were reported in 2021. As Mussoorie is a major tourist destination, L. bicolor may be threatened by vehicular traffic, pollution, and other tourism-related activities near the sanctuary; due to this, a detailed status survey and further research into the species are required.[1][2]
Description
Adults may attain a total length of Template:Convert, which includes a tail Template:Convert long. Dorsally, it is brown, with a network of white lines. Ventrally, it is uniformly white, or white with brown-edged ventrals. The dorsal scales are smooth, and are arranged in 17 rows at midbody. The anal plate is divided.[3]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitats of Lycodon bicolor are rocky areas and shrubland, at altitudes of Template:Cvt.[4]
Reproduction
Lycodon bicolor is oviparous.[5]
References
Further reading
- Lanza B (1999). "A new species of Lycodon from the Philippines, with a key to the genus (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae)". Tropical Zoology 12: 89–104.
- Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". (Contia bicolor, new species). (in French).
- 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. (Lycodon mackinnoni, p. 263).
- Wall F (1906). "A New Himalayan Snake (Lycodon mackinnoni )". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 17: 29–30.
- Wall F (1923). "A Hand-list of the Snakes of the Indian Empire. Part 2". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 29 (3): 598–632. (Ophites mackinnoni, p. 614).