Banded krait
| Banded krait | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Elapidae |
| Genus: | Bungarus |
| Species: | B. fasciatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Bungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801) |
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| Synonyms | |
The banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) is a species of elapid snake found on the Indian Subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. It is one of the largest kraits, with a maximum length up to 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in).
B. fasciatus is easily identified by its alternate black and yellow crossbands, its triangular body cross section, and the marked vertebral ridge consisting of enlarged vertebral shields along its body. The head is broad and depressed. The eyes are black. It has arrowhead-like yellow markings on its otherwise black head and has yellow lips, lores, chin, and throat.
The longest banded krait measured was 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) long, but normally the length encountered is 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in).
The snake has an entire anal plate and single subcaudals. The tail is small and ends like a fingertip, generally being one-tenth the length of the snake.
The banded krait occurs in the whole of the Indo-Chinese subregion, the Malaysian peninsula and archipelago, and southern China. The species is common in Assam and Tripura of India and Bangladesh, but becomes progressively uncommon westwards in India.
It has been recorded eastwards from central India through Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and southern China (including Hong Kong), Philippines to Malaysia and the main Indonesian islands of Borneo (Java and Sumatra), as well as Singapore.
In India, it has been recorded from Andhra Pradesh,Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Northeast India, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. It has recently been recorded from Hassan District in Karnataka, also.
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Wikipedia