Herpetoreas platyceps is known from India along the sub-Himalayan region, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and China, at elevations of 1,040–4,000m (3,410–13,120ft).
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of Herpetoreas platyceps is forest near water, but it has also been found in disturbed areas such as agricultural fields and villages.
Description
Herpetoreas platyceps has the following characteristics: Eye moderate; rostral just visible from above; suture between the internasals as long as that between the prefrontals or shorter; frontal longer than its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals; loreal longer than deep; one preocular (sometimes divided); two or three postoculars; temporals 1+1, or 1+2, or 2+2; 8 upper labials, third, fourth, and fifth entering the eye; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin shields, which are much shorter than the posterior chin shields.
Olive-brown above, with small black spots; frequently two black parallel lines or an elliptic marking on the nape; a light, black-edged streak on each side of the head, or a black line from eye to gape (corner of mouth); belly yellowish, with or without blackish dots; frequently a black line or series of elongate blackish spots along each side of the belly; lower surface of tail frequently mottled with blackish; throat sometimes black. In life, a coral-red band is said to run along the ends of the ventrals.
Total length 90cm (3 feet); tail 23cm (9 inches).
Behavior
Herpetoreas platyceps is terrestrial, and it is active in the evening.
Diet
Herpetoreas platycepspreys upon a variety of small vertebrates, including fishes, frogs and their tadpoles, lizards, snakes and their eggs, birds, and mammals.
Reproduction
Herpetoreas platyceps is oviparous. Clutch size is 4–12 eggs. Each egg measures 8mm ×25mm (0.31in ×0.98in).
↑Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Tropidonotus platyceps, pp. 343–344).
↑Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume I., Containing the Families ... Colubridæ Aglyphæ, Part. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I–XXVIII. (Tropidonotus platyceps, p. 248).
↑Das, I. (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Publishing. ISBN0-88359-056-5. 144 pp. (Eastern Keelback, Amphiesma platyceps, p. 18).
Further reading
Blyth E (1855). "Notices and descriptions of various reptiles, new or little known [part 2]". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta23 (3): 287–302 [1854]. (Tropidonotus platyceps, new species, p. 297).
Cardew AG (1896). "A rough key to the identification of Indian ophidia". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society10: 585–596.
Guo, P.; Zhu, F.; Liu, Q.; Zhang, L.; Li, J.X.; Huang, Y.Y.; Pyron, R.A. (2014). "A taxonomic revision of the Asian keelback snakes, genus Amphiesma (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae), with description of a new species". Zootaxa. 3873 (4): 425–440. (Herpetoreas platyceps, new combination).
Hubrecht AAW (1882). "List of reptiles and amphibians brought from British India by Mr. Francis Day". Notes from the Leyden Museum, Leiden4: 138–144.
Kramer E (1977). "Zur Schlangenfauna Nepals ". Revue suisse de Zoologie84 (3): 721–761. (in German).
Malnate EV (1966). "Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth) and Amphiesma sieboldii (Günther): sibling species (Reptilia: Serpentes)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.63 (1): 1–17.
Schleich HH, Kästle W (2002). Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal. Königstein: Koeltz Scientific Books. 1,200 pp.
Shaw GE, Shebbeare EO, Barker PE (1939). "The snakes of northern Bengal and Sikkim, Part 4. The colubrine snakes". Journal of the Darjeeling Natural History Society13: 114–123.
Shaw GE, Shebbeare EO, Barker PE (2000). The snakes of Sikkim and Bengal [reprint]. Delhi: Asiatic Publishing House. 125 pp.
Steindachner F (1867). "Ueber drei neue Schlangenarten [Calamaria philippinica]". Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien17: 513–516. (Zamenis himalayanus, new species, p. 513). (in German).
Tillack F (2003). "Über die Verbreitung und Biologie der Himalaya-Gebirgswassernatter Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth 1854) und einen Fall von Amphigonia retardata (Serpentes: Colubridae: Natricinae) ". Sauria25 (1): 21–27. (in German).
Wall F (1914). "A new snake of the genus Tropidonotus from the Eastern Himalayas. Tropidonotus Firthi, spec. nov. ". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.23: 166–167. (Tropidonotus firthi, new species).
Wall F (1923). "A Hand-list of the Snakes of the Indian Empire. Part 2". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.29: 598–632.
