Hardwicke's rat snake (Platyceps ventromaculatus), also known commonly as the glossy-bellied racer, Gray's rat snake, and the spotted bellied snake, is a species of snake in the familyColubridae. The species is native to Asia. There are three recognized subspecies.
Geographic range
P. ventromaculatus is found in southern and southwestern Asia from northern India through Pakistan, southern Iran, and Iraq to Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia along the Persian Gulf. Its presence in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Syria, and Turkey requires confirmation.[1]
P. ventromaculatus is a graceful snake with a smooth, round, elongate, gradually tapering body, and a tail more than one-fourth the total length. It has a moderately narrow head. It varies in colour and can be grey, olive-brown, olive-green, or dirty yellow. It has a series of black rhomboidal cross-bars running down the middle of the back. The scales forming the cross-bars normally have colour on the edges only. The sides of the body have similar smaller spots alternating with interspaces which may be broader or narrower than them. The belly is yellow to white with glossy scales.[citation needed]
The head is of the body-colour with or without symmetrical darkish markings. These may consist of:
A blackish spot between the lores.
A black streak obliquely placed below the eye.
A black stripe from the temporal area to the gape.
Adults are usually 90 to 120 cm (35 to 47 in) in total length (including tail), and have been recorded to grow up to 1.28 m (4.2 ft) .[citation needed]
P. ventromaculatus inhabits mainly stony hillsides, open or cultivated land, and sometimes congested urban areas. It has been recorded in Pokaran district in the Thar Desert also.[citation needed]
Habits
P. ventromaculatus is a fast active snake, which gives rise to one of its common names, glossy-bellied racer. It is normally seen in open country. When alarmed, it quickly retreats into cover. It hibernates in winter. It has been known to live as long as five years.[citation needed]
P. ventromaculatus is oviparous.[1][2] Gravid females have been obtained in early summer. About 9 eggs are laid. They hatch around September. The young snakes are 30–33 centimetres (12–13 in) long.[citation needed]
Daniel, J.C. (2002). The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society/Oxford University Press.
Barabanov, Andrei (2003). "Taxonomic status of Coluber ventromaculatus bengalensis Khan et Khan, 2000 (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae)". Russian Journal of Herpetology9 (3): 255. [2002]
Gray, J.E. (1834). Illustrations of Indian Zoology, Chiefly Selected from the Collection of Major-General Hardwicke. Vol. II. London. 263 pp. + Plates 1–102. (Coluber ventromaculatus, new species, Plate 80).
Günther, A. (1859). "On the geographical distribution of reptiles". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Third Series3: 221–237. (Zamenis ventrimaculatus, new combination, p. 223).
Schätti, B; Wilson, L.D. (1986). "Coluber Linnaeus. Holarctic racers". Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (399) : 1–4.
Schätti, B.; Monsch, P. (2004). "Systematics and phylogenetic relationships of Whip snakes (Hierophis Fitzinger and Zamenis andreana Werner 1917) (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubrinae)". Revue suisse de Zoologie111 (2): 239–256. (Platyceps ventromaculatus, new combination).
Smith, Malcolm A. (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. (Coluber ventromaculatus, p. 168).
Whitaker, Romulus (2006). Common Indian Snakes: A Field Guide. Revised edition. New Delhi: MacMillan India Ltd.
