Lycodon rufozonatus
| Dinodon rufozonatum | |
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| File:Dinodon rufozonatum in China 20130628.jpg | |
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D. rufozonatum
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| Binomial name | |
| Dinodon rufozonatum (Cantor, 1842)
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Dinodon rufozonatum is a species of nocturnal snake in the family Colubridae, native to East Asia. It is typically 70 cm (28 in) long, and is considered non-venomous. Two subspecies are recognised, one of which is restricted to the Ryukyu Archipelago.
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Description
Dinodon rufozonatum typically grows to a length of around 70 centimetres (28 in), reaching up to 130 cm (51 in) in extreme cases.[2] The head is long and relatively flat, and somewhat separate from the neck. The medium-sized eyes bulge slightly and have vertical pupils. The ventral scales have a strong keel, while the dorsal scales are only faintly keeled; the scale count is typically 17:17:15, but can be up to 21:19:17.[2]
Distribution
Dinodon rufozonatum is found across a large part of East Asia, from the Korean Peninsula in the north (and extending just into easternmost Russia) to northern Laos and Vietnam in the south; the bulk of its range in found in eastern China.[2] The continental populations are all placed in the nominate subspecies (D. r. rufozonatum); a second subspecies, D. r. walli, is found in the Ryukyu Archipelago of southern Japan.[3]
Behaviour and ecology
Dinodon rufozonatum lives in a wide variety of habitats; it can be found from near sea level to as high as 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), and is most common near river plains.[2] It is usually found on the ground, but is occasionally seen swimming in streams.[2] It is nocturnal, feeding on fish, frogs, lizards, snakes and young birds.[2] D. rufozonatum has a generally mild disposition, curling into a spherical mass with the head hidden when approached. Individuals can, however, be unpredictable, and some will bite readily.[2] There are very few clinical reports on the toxinology of D. rufozonatum bites, but the species appears to be non-venomous.[2] D. rufozonatum can harbour tapeworms of the genus Spirometra, and the consumption of raw meat from D. rufozonatum has led to cases of human sparganosis in Korea and Japan.[4]
Taxonomic history
The species was first described by Theodore Edward Cantor in an 1842 paper on the fauna of "Chusan" (Zhoushan, China) in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.[5] Cantor included it among the "innocuous" (not venomous) species, and described it as "Brown, with numerous transversal crimson bands; the abdominal surface pearl-coloured, spotted with black on the tail".[5]
It is known by several common names, including "Asian king snake",[6] "banded red snake", "red banded krait", "red banded odd-toothed snake" and "red-banded snake".[2]
References
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| External identifiers for Lycodon rufozonatus | |
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| Encyclopedia of Life | 795072 |
| NCBI | 74361 |
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Data related to Dinodon rufozonatum at Wikispecies- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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