Sakishima green snake

Sakashima Green Snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Ptyas
Species:
P. herminae
Binomial name
Ptyas herminae
(Boettger, 1895)
Synonyms
List

The Sakishima green snake (Ptyas herminae) is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the Yaeyama Islands in the southern Ryukyu Islands of Japan.

Conservation status

These snakes were listed as Near Threatened on the revised 2000 Red List of Japan, but this was changed to Least Concern in a 2016 assessment.

Etymology

The specific name, herminae, is in honor of Boettger's wife, Hermine Boettger.

Geographic range

P. herminae is found in the Yaeyama Islands of Japan.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of P. herminae is forest.

Description

P. herminae may attain a total length of 58 cm (23 in), which includes a tail about 11 cm (4.3 in) long. They have a pointed snout, and their scales are arranged in 17 rows, and they have 17 teeth in the upper jaw, of almost equal size.

Behavior

P. herminae is terrestrial.

Diet

Eating a worm

P. herminae preys upon earthworms.

Reproduction

P. herminae is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of about eight eggs in August, which is later than other species of terrestrial snakes lay eggs in the Ryukyus.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kidera, N.; Ota, H. (2017). "Ptyas herminae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017 e.T96251357A96251360. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T96251357A96251360.en. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Ptyas herminae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
  3. ↑ Ota, Hidetoshi. "Current status of the threatened amphibians and reptiles of Japan" (PDF). Population Ecology (42): 5–9.
  4. ↑ Hidetoshi Ota (Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Yayoigaoka 6, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1546, Japan); Noriko Kidera (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan) (2016-12-10). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Ptyas herminae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Archived from the original on 2025-04-29.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. 1 2 Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Cyclophiops herminae, p. 122).
  6. ↑ Boulenger (1896).
  7. ↑ Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft.; Gesellschaft, Deutsche Zoologische (1895). Zoologischer Anzeiger. Vol. Bd.18=no.465-492 (1895). Jena: VEB Gustav Fischer Verlag. p. 269.

Further reading