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A
guide to the Reptiles of Sri Lanka - SriLankaReptile.com
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Order Squamata ;
Suborder Serpentes
Family Colubridae (Old world colubrids)
Out of the 98
described species of snakes in the country, 44 distinct species are colubrids. They include 17
endemic species and a further six are endemic at subspecies level. Out of the five geographically relict snake genera in Sri
Lanka, other than the genus Pseudotypholops of family
Uropeltidae, the other four genera namely Aspidura,
Balanophis, Cercaspis and Haplocercus belong to
family Colubridae, and they include nine relict colubrid species.
The colubrids display
some common morphological features, which can be used to separate
them from other snake families. Their ventral scales are well
developed, usually as broad as the belly. The head is usually oval
shaped with systematically arranged shields. The tails of the
colubrids are normally cylindrical and pointed and in some species
the last few teeth on the maxilla are enlarged and grooved hence
these are known as ‘rear-fanged snakes’.
Being the largest snake
family, Colubridae members occupy a variety of diverse habitats. The
snakes can be divided into four ecological categories according to
their habitats namely, Fossorial (live inside soil), Terrestrial
(live on the ground), Arboreal (live on shrubs and trees) and
Aquatic (live in water), where the last habitat can be furthermore
divided as Freshwater, Brackish water and Marine.
Out of the 44
species in the country, 12 species are considered mildly venomous and
the rest are non-venomous. Some non-venomous colubrids known as
Aglyphous (grooveless) snakes lack any groove in their teeth for
venom conduction. Others possess grooved venom fangs and comprise
the group Opisthoglyphous, the ‘rear-fanged snakes’. The fangs are
located in the inside corner of the mouth and the venom is produced
in a special tubuloacinous gland called Duvernoy’s gland. Due to the
above fang configuration, chances are very limited of suffering a
fang-bite from an attack. Even if the venom gets injected into the
body, it is only feebly toxic to humans, having only trivial local
effects restricted to pain, swelling and color change due to
haematoma around the bite site.
Download the latest checklist of Sri Lankan snakes
Download
the paper 'Sri Lankan Colubrid snakes'
                                                        
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