Toxicodryas blandingii explained
Toxicodryas blandingii, commonly known as **Blanding's cat snake** and **Blanding's tree snake**, is a species of rear-fanged venomous snake of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Etymology
The specific name, blandingii, is in honor of (1772–1857), an American physician and naturalist.[1]
Geographic range
T. blandingii is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
Habitat
The preferred natural habitats of T. blandingii are forest and savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 2,200 m (7,200 ft). However, it is also found in gardens, parks, and in and around houses.
Description
T. blandingii is a long and slender species. The longest specimen measured by (1896) had a total length of 2.2 m (7.2 ft), including a tail 0.5 m (1.6 ft) long.
Diet
T. blandingii preys upon lizards including dwarf chameleons, small mammals including bats, and birds.
Reproduction
T. blandingii is oviparous. Clutch size is 7–14 eggs.
Further reading
- Book: Boulenger, G.A. . 1896 . Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III., Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ).... . London . Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers) . 77–78.
- Hallowell . E. . 1844 . Descriptions of New Species of African Reptiles . Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . 2 . 170–171.
- Nagy . Z.T. . Kusamba . C. . Tungaluna . G.G. . Lokasola . A.L. . Kolby . J. . Kielgast . J. . 2011 . Foraging acrobatics of Toxicodryas blandingii in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Herpetology Notes . 4 . 91–92.
- Pauwels . O.S.G. . Vogel . G. . 2011 . Ein Fall von Thanatose (Totstellreflex) bei Boiga blandingii (Squamata, Serpentes, Colubridae) in Gabun . A case of thanatosis (play-dead reflex) in Boiga blandingii (Squamata, Serpentes, Colubridae) in Gabon . Elaphe . 19 . 4 . 24–25 . German.
- Book: Spawls . S. . Howell . K. . Hinkel . H. . Menegon . M. . 2018 . Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition . London . Bloomsbury Natural History . 978-1472935618 . 511.
Notes and References
- Book: Beolens . Bo . Watkins . Michael . Grayson . Michael . 2011 . The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles . Johns Hopkins University Press . Baltimore . 978-1-4214-0135-5 . 27.
