Argyrogena fasciolata

Taxobox | name = Banded Racer

---

image_caption = A Banded Racer from south India
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Serpentes
familia = Colubridae
genus = "Argyrogena"
species = "A. fasciolata"
binomial = "Argyrogena fasciolata"
binomial_authority = (Shaw, 1802)
synonyms = "Coluber fasciolata" Shaw, 1802

The Banded Racer "Argyrogena fasciolata" is a species of snake found in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Description

Snout obtuse, curved and prominent; rostral large, broader than wide, the portion visible from above more than half its length from the frontal; suture between the internasals as long as that between the prefrontals or a little shorter; frontal nearly as long as its distance from the end of the snout, or as the parietals; loreal as long an deep or longer than deep; one pre-ocular, usually with a small subocular below; two or three postoculare; temporals 2+2 or 2+3; upper labials 8. fourth and fifth entering the eye ; 4 or 5 lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields: posterior chin-shields nearly as long as the anterior, separated from each other by two or three series of scales. Scutes smooth, in 21 or 23 rows. Ventrals 197-225; anal divided ; subcaudals 73-88. Yellowish or brownish olive above, with narrow white, brown, and black variegated cross bands on the anterior half of the body : these bands may entirely disappear in the adult: lower parts uniform yellowish. [Boulenger, G. A. (1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.] Total length 3.5 feet; tail 8.5 inches.

Shaw's original description of the species was based on a plate in Russell, Ind. Serp. (1796).

Notes

References

* Shaw, G. 1802 General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Vol.3, part 1 + 2. G. Kearsley, Thomas Davison, London: 313-615
* Wilson, Larry David 1967 Generic reallocation and review of "Coluber fasciolatus" Shaw (Serpentes: Colubridae) Herpetologica 23 (4): 260-275

External links

* http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Argyrogena_fasciolata.jpg
* http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Argyrogena_fasciolata2.jpg