Biodiversity Encyclopedia: Green Slim Snake – I Am Unlike Any Fireworks
Today, we're going to introduce you toSpine Animals·Green Slim Snake.
Green Slim Snake
Ahaetulla prasina
Spine animals, reptile class, scaly order, file snake family, slim snake genus. Commonly inhabit in forests and shrubs. Domestic distribution in north latitude 25 degrees south and south, photo taken in Pu'er.
The green slim snake has a peculiar appearance, with a pair of big, watery eyes, and its pupils are horizontal, so it always looks like it's squinting. It's important to know that many snakes look like they have bright, shiny eyes, but they actually belong to 'nearsighted' snakes. However, the green slim snake has excellent vision, with both eyes and stereoscopic vision.
Its head is narrow and elongated, its body is like a bamboo cane, extremely thin and long, with an average body length of about 1 meter, and the longest one will not exceed 1.5 meters. It is good at climbing between branches, and its speed is very fast when hunting or escaping. It is mostly active during the day and preys on frogs, lizards and small birds.
The name 'Green' in the Chinese name of the green slim snake, but in the natural world, the green slim snake has fresh green, emerald green, blue-green and brown-yellow color systems. Some individuals have two vertical lines pattern, and the green slim snake in the photo is one of the individuals with brown-yellow body color and two vertical line pattern.
According to the classification of venomous snakes, venomous snakes can be divided into tubular-dentate venomous snakes, groove-front venomous snakes and groove-rear venomous snakes. The first two types of venomous snakes have venomous teeth located on the sides of the upper jaw in front of the jaw, but the venomous teeth of the tubular-dentate venomous snakes are hidden in fleshy sheaths and only appear when needed, while the venomous teeth of the groove-front venomous snakes are relatively small and do not need to be hidden. These two types of snakes are mainly concentrated in viper family and cobra family snakes, which are highly poisonous.
However, the green slim snake belongs to the groove-rear venomous snake, meaning its venomous teeth are located in the rear segment of the upper jaw. Research shows that the venom of the green slim snake is very weak and poses almost no threat to humans. Compared to the first two types, it cannot be considered a venomous snake.
The green slim snake is not only an 'outlaw' in the evolution of venomous teeth, but also its reproductive method is 'different'. It is one of the few snake species that gives birth to live young. Most snakes hatch eggs, but the eggs of the green slim snake are in the female snake's body, and the embryo develops by absorbing nutrients from its own egg yolk, and only after it develops into a new individual will it be produced by the mother. In other words, the green slim snake is born as a young snake, skipping the processes of laying eggs and hatching.
, ecological photographer. He has won the International Garden Photographer Award for 4 consecutive years and won the first prize of the 2018 China Ecological Photography Competition for wild plants and animals. He is committed to photographing the human landscape and biodiversity beauty in western China, especially in Yunnan.
Coordination: Lian Hui Ling
Text Compilation: Tian Yuan
