Platyceps najadum

Platyceps najadum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Platyceps
Species:
P. najadum
Binomial name
Platyceps najadum
(Eichwald, 1831)
Synonyms[2]

Platyceps najadum, also known commonly as Dahl's whip snake or the slender whip snake, is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to Eurasia. Four subspecies are recognized as being valid.

Taxonomy

P. najadum was first described by Karl Eichwald in 1831,[1] as Tyria najadum.[2]

Geographic range

P. najadum is found in the Balkans, Aegean, Cyprus, the Mid-East, and as far as Turkmenistan and the Caucasus Mountains.[3]

Habitat

P. najadum occurs in dry and xeric environments in a wide range of habitats: in desert and rocky land, in forests, woodland scrub, and agricultural land from sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) altitude. It is commonly found in fields, and seen crushed on roads.[1]

Description

P. najadum has a slim body, and is rarely over a metre (39 inches) in total length (including tail).[4]

Conservation status

P. najadum is threatened by direct persecution, forest fires and intensive agriculture, where its range interacts with human interests. The species is listed on Annex II of the Bern Convention and Annex IV of the European Union Habitats Directive. It has varying protection in some countries including Serbia, Montenegro, Russia, and Lebanon.[1]

Reproduction

P. najadum is an egg laying species. Females lay between 3 and 16 eggs in a clutch.[1]

Subspecies

Four[2] subspecies are identified, including the nominotypical subspecies.

A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Platyceps.

Etymology

Both the subspecific name, dahlii, and the common name, Dahl's whip snake, are in honor of Austrian entomologist Georg Dahl (1769–1831) who collected the type specimen in Dalmatia in 1824.[5]

The subspecific name, schmidtleri, is in honor of German herpetologist Josef Friedrich Schmidtler (born 1942).[6]

Indigenous names

Σαϊτα (Greek), Saita, Стрелушка (Bulgarian), šilac (Croatian), Za'aman Z'eitani (Hebrew), Ok Yılanı (Turkish).

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Lymberakis, Petros; Ajtic, Rastko; Tok, Varl; Ugurtas, Ismail H.; Sevinç, Murat; Crochet, Pierre-André; Disi, Ahmad Mohammed Mousa; Hraoui-Bloquet, Souad; Sadek, Riyad; Haxhiu, Idriz; Böhme, Wolfgang [in German]; Agasyan, Aram; Tuniyev, Boris; Ananjeva, Natalia; Orlov, Nikolai (2009). "Platyceps najadum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T157277A5068046. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009.RLTS.T157277A5068046.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Platyceps najadum ". The Reptile Database. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Platyceps&species=najadum&search_param=%28%28search%3D%27Platyceps+najadum%27%29%29
  3. ^ "Platyceps najadum ". French language Wikipédia.
  4. ^ "Dahl's Whip Snake (Platyceps najadum) | Archipelago Wildlife Library". Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  5. ^ Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich … volume 3. pages 129-130. 1858.
  6. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Platyceps najadum dahlii, p. 64; P. n. schmidtleri, p. 236).

Further reading

  • Arnold EN, Burton JA (1978). A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. (Illustrated by D.W. Ovenden). London: Collins. 272 pp. + Plates 1-40. ISBN 0-00-219318-3. (Coluber najadum, pp. 194–195 + Plate 35, figure 4 + Map 106).
  • Eichwald [K]E (1831). Zoologia specialis quam expositis animalibus tum vivis, tum fossilibus potissimum Rossiae in universum, et Poloniae in specie, in usum lectionum publicarum, in Universitate Caesarea Vilnensi [Volume 3]. Vilnius: J. Zawadzki. 404 pp. + one plate. (Tyria najadum, new species, p. 174). (in Latin).