Decorated tree snakes [1] , or golden tree snakes [2] ( lat. Chrysopelea ) - a genus of snakes from the family of the same . Adapted to life in the crowns of trees , they have a long and relatively thin body, reaching from 60 cm to 1.5 m in length, and a long tail [1] [3] . The head is flattened from above, the eyes are quite large and round. The scales of the body are long and narrow, the ventral and tail shields with a sharp longitudinal keel on the sides, which helps with climbing. The color is bright and motley, masking these snakes among the plexuses of leaves, branches, vines , lichens and epiphytic flowers lit by the sun's rays [1] .
| Decorated tree snakes | ||||||||||||||||
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 Ornamented Snake ( Chrysopelea ornata ) | ||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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| Latin name | ||||||||||||||||
| Chrysopelea ( Boie , 1826) |
Capable of planning a flight. Before the jump, the snake curls up in a spiral, then, turning sharply, throws itself into the air and, stretched out, quickly and smoothly plans on a branch or another tree located below. During the jump, the snake flattenes the body, strongly drawing in the belly between the lateral keels in the form of a longitudinal groove. In this case, the same effect is obtained as during the flight of a hollow bamboo trunk or a light tube split in two, gliding smoothly in the air. A snake can also move from branch to branch with a series of short jumps or make a longer “flight” from the tops of tall trees, during which it can “fly” a distance of up to 100 m [4] [5] . Jumping from the height of a human hand, a medium-sized snake descends to the ground at a distance of 6.5 m, and easily “flies” from a window sill onto a tree branch 2.5 m from the window [1] .
Distributed in South and Southeast Asia , including the Malay Archipelago [6] [7] [8] [9] . Lead a daily lifestyle. They feed on lizards , frogs , birds, rodents and bats [9] [10] [3] .
Views
There are 5 species in the genus Chrysopelea [11] :
- Chrysopelea ornata - Ornamented Snake [1]
- Chrysopelea paradisi - Paradise decorated snake [12]
- Chrysopelea pelias - Crimson-black decorated snake
- Chrysopelea rhodopleuron - Moluccan decorated snake
- Chrysopelea taprobanica
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Animal life. Volume 5. Amphibians. Reptiles / ed. A. G. Bannikova . - 2nd ed. - M .: Education, 1985 .-- S. 306. - 399 p.
- ↑ Great Soviet Encyclopedia - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- ↑ 1 2 Socha, JJ; LaBarbera, M. (March 2005). "Effects of size and behavior on aerial performance of two species of flying snakes ( Chrysopelea )." (unavailable link) The Journal of Experimental Biology , 208 (10): 1835-1847. DOI : 10.1242 / jeb.01580
- ↑ Socha, JJ (August 2002). "Kinematics - Gliding flight in the paradise tree snake." (unavailable link) Nature , 418 (6898): 603-604. DOI : 10.1038 / 418603a
- ↑ Ernst, CH; Zug, GR (1996). Snakes in Question: The Smithsonian Answer Book . Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 14-15.
- ↑ Ferner, JW; Brown, RW, Sison, RV and Kennedy, RS (2000). "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Panay Island, Philippines." Archived July 21, 2011 at Wayback Machine Asiatic Herpetological Research , 9: 1–37.
- ↑ Socha, J. (2005). "Approximate distribution of Chrysopelea."
- ↑ Pawar, S. and Birand, A. 2001. “A survey of amphibians, reptiles and birds in northeast India.” Archived July 6, 2010. CERC Technical Report No. 6. Center for Ecological Research and Conservation, Mysore.
- ↑ 1 2 De Rooij, N. (1915). "The reptiles of the Indo-Australian archipelago." Leiden: EJ Brill.
- ↑ Socha, J. (2005). "Flying Snake Frequently Asked Questions."
- ↑ The Reptile Database: Chrysopelea
- ↑ Russian names according to the book by Ananyev N. B. , Borkin L. Ya. , Darevsky I. S. , Orlov N. L. The bilingual dictionary of animal names. Amphibians and reptiles. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / edited by Acad. V. E. Sokolova . - M .: Rus. Yaz., 1988 .-- S. 289. - 10,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00232-X .